Ducks trade Drysdale for Gauthier

[rataylor22]

The current rumour/best guess per Friedman is that Gauthier wanted to sign last summer, Philly thought he was ready, but they didn’t want bonus overages from this year hitting their cap next year so they wanted to punt a year. Which like yea understandable that pissed him off. Cost him around $900k this year at least, has to spend another year in college, has to wait another year to get to second contract, UFA, etc.

Makes sense to me, completely reasonable.

[Pengwin7]

My mind is exactly in the same place as where EF started out... "Tortorella related".
I tweet occasionally - and I'm not a Tortorella fan.

I think the guy can take a 4th-liner and make him as good as a 3rd liner.
I think the guy can take a 3rd-liner and make him as good as a 2nd/3rd-tweener.
I think the guy also turns 2nd-liners (say Morgan Frost) and turns them into 3rd liners - wanting them to "hustle" more and be "cerebral" (passive) less.
I think the guy can take a 1st-liner (Sedins, say) and turn them into 2nd liners.

And Torts can get an extra 5-12pts out of a club... with his style.
But it doesn't make for an ELITE team in current day.
And it doesn't develop the SKILL in skilled players.
It just makes the team... not.suck.

PHI has "overperformed", IMO, with Tortorella there.
So... great, instead of a 70pt team they are an 80pt team... both miss the playoffs, one gets a lesser pick.
In the old PHI regime - the ownership didn't want losses - they always wanted "better" / "best possible".

So - my guess is that Cutter has no interest in having his game squashed and criticized by Torts.
Torts' "up front / honest" style has called out and scratched young players like Foerster, Farabee, Frost, Brink, Zamula.
If the guy "hustles" - which is guys like Deslauriers & Hathaway... there's no criticism (or little).
Torts played Noah Cates way, way, WAY too far up the lineup for way, way, WAY too long.
Cates & Laughton are hustlers - and they've received the least criticism of non-topliners.
But I think metrics this year would show both as net-negative players. (using whatever metric one wishes)


I mean... I get it... for Gauthier. And I'm not mad.
For "young players" - Torts is a military-style leader who doesn't take shit and flexes his muscles and everybody has to say they "respect him".
I mean... when Lu gave his speech in VAN... and the crowd booed at the mention of Torts... and Lu says "No, no... he's a good coach"... that's just "playing nice".

Torts sucks. He doesn't fit modern NHL.
He's one step better than Babcock.

IMO - this cost the Flyers Gauthier'.
Gauthier had to say all the right things on being drafted by PHI in summer 2022 (Torts was new, hired June 2022).
Then Gauthier has his eyes on a new coach of his team that is critizing the fugg out of young players.
And for the bully/macho PHI organization - and even probably HALF of the fans - this is all "look how tough and old school we are".

Nah.
Nah.
Torts needs to go.
Hopefully Briere and co will move him out when the time is right.
They are playing OK... so I don't think it will be during this season.
But hopefully it will be this summer.

The team just needs a different coach.
Torts was a Fletcher-hire (& more than that... probably a "Dave Scott" hand-rubbing fist-pump)...
But I don't think Torts' fits with young players any more.

That's my 2 cents.

(And re: Trade... I mean, Gauthier knew before prospect/development camp. One season of seeing the word out on Torts is enough. And as guys close in on 4-years of college post-draft... their drafted teams get held at ransom. I think Briere dressed up the "sell high" of Gauthier's WJC fairly well. Any other random time... and Briere probably has to sell him at 80c on the dollar.)


For me - ANA will win this trade.
Gauthier is going to be a very solid forward... a complimentary low-end top line winger / high-end 2nd liner... and a sniper of a PP1 guy.
Drysdale is a TBD. But he is a RHD with upside. And GMs love changing up the team with their pieces.


End Note: All towards my speculation - we won't, probably, ever know.
Keen people don't rag publicly on decisions which negatively reflect a single individual.
Once Torts' is absolutely retired... and maybe when Gauthier is a 30-year old NHL-er... maybe with a cup ring... maybe then he'll hint it.
I really, truly, don't think a player can hate an entire organization - but it DOES make an easier out than single-person-finger-pointing.
(I don't think it's because he's a PIT fan or because of anything PHI management related. Briere/Jones/Hilferty are good new faces... but Torts is not. Only military-like-kids like a Michkov are going to love being drafted by a team showing Torts-type... heck, Torts is easy-peezy compared to all things Russian... probably).

End rant on that.

[2014olympicgold]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhRj...nnel=SPORTSNET

Jeff Marek and EF talking about it.

Also to note, Anaheim tried to trade up to draft Cutter in 2022 (sounds like they didn't want to give up their 10th overall, but were willing to give up their 22nd overall+). So they've liked him for a while.

[rataylor22]

RE: what P7 said, if y’all aren’t listening to the weekly PDOcasts with Daryl Belfry, you should be.

Player/offensive development is partially based on skill, but it’s also partially based off the environment they’re allowed to develop in. Skill players remove skilled plays from their toolbox if mistakes from those plays end with them benched/scratched. If they’re allowed to make mistakes they’re more likely to keep those tools in their repertoire and learn how to properly use them in the NHL. Torts is certainly a decent NHL coach, and definitely squeezes everything out of his roster, but he’s also the type of coach that forces young players to remove skills from their repertoire to stay in the lineup.

[TrailerParkFlyers]

My mind is exactly in the same place as where EF started out... "Tortorella related".
I tweet occasionally - and I'm not a Tortorella fan.

I think the guy can take a 4th-liner and make him as good as a 3rd liner.
I think the guy can take a 3rd-liner and make him as good as a 2nd/3rd-tweener.
I think the guy also turns 2nd-liners (say Morgan Frost) and turns them into 3rd liners - wanting them to "hustle" more and be "cerebral" (passive) less.
I think the guy can take a 1st-liner (Sedins, say) and turn them into 2nd liners.
[/B]
And Torts can get an extra 5-12pts out of a club... with his style.
But it doesn't make for an ELITE team in current day.
And it doesn't develop the SKILL in skilled players.
It just makes the team... not.suck.

PHI has "overperformed", IMO, with Tortorella there.
So... great, instead of a 70pt team they are an 80pt team... both miss the playoffs, one gets a lesser pick.
In the old PHI regime - the ownership didn't want losses - they always wanted "better" / "best possible".

So - my guess is that Cutter has no interest in having his game squashed and criticized by Torts.
Torts' "up front / honest" style has called out and scratched young players like Foerster, Farabee, Frost, Brink, Zamula.
If the guy "hustles" - which is guys like Deslauriers & Hathaway... there's no criticism (or little).
Torts played Noah Cates way, way, WAY too far up the lineup for way, way, WAY too long.
Cates & Laughton are hustlers - and they've received the least criticism of non-topliners.
But I think metrics this year would show both as net-negative players. (using whatever metric one wishes)


I mean... I get it... for Gauthier. And I'm not mad.
For "young players" - Torts is a military-style leader who doesn't take shit and flexes his muscles and everybody has to say they "respect him".
I mean... when Lu gave his speech in VAN... and the crowd booed at the mention of Torts... and Lu says "No, no... he's a good coach"... that's just "playing nice".

Torts sucks. He doesn't fit modern NHL.
He's one step better than Babcock.

IMO - this cost the Flyers Gauthier'.
Gauthier had to say all the right things on being drafted by PHI in summer 2022 (Torts was new, hired June 2022).
Then Gauthier has his eyes on a new coach of his team that is critizing the fugg out of young players.
And for the bully/macho PHI organization - and even probably HALF of the fans - this is all "look how tough and old school we are".

Nah.
Nah.
Torts needs to go.
Hopefully Briere and co will move him out when the time is right.
They are playing OK... so I don't think it will be during this season.
But hopefully it will be this summer.

The team just needs a different coach.
Torts was a Fletcher-hire (& more than that... probably a "Dave Scott" hand-rubbing fist-pump)...
But I don't think Torts' fits with young players any more.

That's my 2 cents.

(And re: Trade... I mean, Gauthier knew before prospect/development camp. One season of seeing the word out on Torts is enough. And as guys close in on 4-years of college post-draft... their drafted teams get held at ransom. I think Briere dressed up the "sell high" of Gauthier's WJC fairly well. Any other random time... and Briere probably has to sell him at 80c on the dollar.)


For me - ANA will win this trade.
Gauthier is going to be a very solid forward... a complimentary low-end top line winger / high-end 2nd liner... and a sniper of a PP1 guy.
Drysdale is a TBD. But he is a RHD with upside. And GMs love changing up the team with their pieces.


End Note: All towards my speculation - we won't, probably, ever know.
Keen people don't rag publicly on decisions which negatively reflect a single individual.
Once Torts' is absolutely retired... and maybe when Gauthier is a 30-year old NHL-er... maybe with a cup ring... maybe then he'll hint it.
I really, truly, don't think a player can hate an entire organization - but it DOES make an easier out than single-person-finger-pointing.
(I don't think it's because he's a PIT fan or because of anything PHI management related. Briere/Jones/Hilferty are good new faces... but Torts is not. Only military-like-kids like a Michkov are going to love being drafted by a team showing Torts-type... heck, Torts is easy-peezy compared to all things Russian... probably).

End rant on that.

Great post. It never ceases to amaze me how many chances some coaches get.

[Dennis]

https://twitter.com/nhl/status/17809...3GtyBtRl3UgopQ

Hobey Baker finalist Cutter Gauthier will make his NHL debut tonight in Vegas.

[Pengwin7]

Smart move by ANA giving Gauthier some cash, some game, and burning a year of ELC.
He'll be cheaper to re-sign at the bridge. ANA is gonna take themselves a STEP next year!

[rataylor22]

Smart move by ANA giving Gauthier some cash, some game, and burning a year of ELC.
He'll be cheaper to re-sign at the bridge. ANA is gonna take themselves a STEP next year!

For my Dostal shares, I hope so! I'm less optimistic Anaheim is going to be good next season unless they make a coaching change. I also don't think Gauthier is going to step in and dominate. I don't think he will see AHL time next season but that doesn't mean he ~shouldn't~.