The Ducks have signed their top prospect, Cutter Gauthier to a three-year, entry-level contract, adding one of the most promising talents in the world to a burgeoning stable of young stars.
He is expected to make his debut in the season finale when the Ducks visit the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.
The versatile, volume-shooting forward will join lottery picks Trevor Zegras, Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish and the Canadian junior defensemen of the year last season among those who offer the Ducks a potential nucleus of the future.
Gauthier, 20, led all collegians with 38 goals this year and turned in a performance at the World Junior Championships that saw him honored as the tournament’s best forward as he led Team USA to gold.
That tournament also precipitated the trade that sent him from the Philadelphia Flyers, who drafted Gauthier fifth overall in 2022, to the Ducks, in exchange for former No. 6 selection Jamie Drysdale and a second-round pick, as Flyers GM Danny Briere sought to capitalize on Gauthier’s increased value.
Yet the Ducks ultimately may have gotten a bargain on Gauthier, since in signing him, they accomplished what the Flyers could not. He was a rare asset who was at once prized and distressed.
The swap was only made possible by the fact that Gauthier informed Philadelphia he was unwilling to sign with their team, for reasons that have never been made public by Gauthier nor the Flyers, who have maintained that they did not know why Gauthier reversed course and opted not to sign.
Drysdale has managed just five points in 23 games with Philly, posting a minus-17 rating. He also dealt with and recovered from yet another injury to the same shoulder that sidelined him for almost all of last season.
For Gauthier’s part, he was a sophomore standout on a dominant collegiate squad that featured three stud freshmen on its first line.
Before Boston College took on the University of Denver in Saturday’s NCAA title game, Gauthier gave a deadpan response on ESPN’s telecast to a query about what he expected in the national final.
“It’s going to be epic, there’s going to be a lot of emotions, and a lot of tears for that team over there,” Gauthier said.
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Yet the pregame smack talk would live in infamy somewhere between that of Andre Iguodala and Fred “The Hammer” Williamson, as BC was blanked 2-0 by goalie Matt Davis and a Pioneers squad that captured its unprecedented 10th national title and its second in three years under Coach David Carle.
Afterward, Gauthier deflected discussion about his own future so as not to overshadow the campaign, saying in passing that he had not spoken to the Ducks recently. That was a mere formality, however, as the Ducks had done their due diligence and felt confident he would sign at the conclusion of the NCAA season all along.