Cutter Gauthier took a page from the Eric Lindros playbook this week, forcing a trade from a team that drafted him but he had no interest in playing for.
Gauthier, the No. 5 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, reportedly didn’t want any part of the Philadelphia Flyers rebuild. So, he forced a trade to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a second-round pick in 2025.
It’s the same play Lindros made as an 18-year-old nearly 33 years ago. After being selected No. 1 overall in the 1991 draft by the Quebec Nordiques, Lindros refused to don their sweater and then sat out the following season, willing to wait out a trade.
After much controversy, the Nordiques traded Lindros to the Flyers for six players, including Peter Forsberg, two first-round draft picks and $15 million in cash.
The Gauthier trade was not nearly the blockbuster, but it was a big deal.
So here we are in 2024, and now more than ever, NHL players are following Lindros’ lead by taking control of their future, bucking draft rights holders and simply saying no to a determined location to live and work for at least the first part of their career.
It’s still a rarity, but more players are opting to use whatever leverage is available to them to force their way out of situations they don’t feel are in their best interests.
Lindros is the most famous NHL example, but few hockey players have gone to the extremes he did to have a say in where to begin their professional career. But it’s happening more often.
Cutter Gauthier not only NHL prospect to force trade recently
The New York Rangers benefitted greatly when Adam Fox refused to sign with, first, the Calgary Flames, who selected him with the No. 66 pick in the 2016 draft, and then the Carolina Hurricanes, who traded for him in 2018. The Long Island native, then starring at Harvard, only wanted to play for his hometown Rangers.
The Hurricanes eventually traded Fox to the Rangers in 2019 for what’s amounted to pennies on the dollar. Fox blossomed into an elite NHL defenseman and already has a Norris Trophy on his resume. Where would the Rangers be if Fox grew up an Islanders fan? Or didn’t force his way to Broadway?
There are other, less historic examples of players opting to become free agents rather than joining the team that drafted them. Their reasons have included potential playing time, location and state of the franchise.
It takes guts to do what players like Lindros and now Gauthier have done, and it deserves praise. Hockey culture is built on the mindset of players avoiding making waves, especially the kind potentially viewed in a negative light.
To their credit, the Flyers didn’t drag Gauthier through the mud beyond stating if a player doesn’t want to play for them, they won’t force him to. The Flyers even praised the Boston College star for not leaking the situation to the media, which would have limited the return the Flyers could have received in trade compensation. So, kudos to Flyers general manager Daniel Briere and president Keith Jones. And to Gauthier and his advisers.
Unfortunately, an ugly rumor spread stating that St. Louis Blues forward Kevin Hayes, who played four seasons with Philly, influenced Gauthier to seek a trade. Hayes and Gauthier have denied this. And Flyers coach John Tortorella ripped the reporter who started the rumor, calling it “bull****.”
Gauthier offered this was a “personal matter,” nothing more. But in reality, we’re not owed an explanation. An NHL player’s career window is short, and he should do what he feels is best for him and his family. It’s accepted outside of sports, and it should start being accepted in them, too.
Lindros walked three decades so players could run today. Players should continue to thank him for taking the heat that makes it somewhat easier to do the same thing today.