NHL Trade Grades for the Flyers and Ducks After Cutter Gauthier-Jamie Drysdale Deal

The Philadelphia Flyers and Anaheim Ducks pulled off a stunner of a trade Monday, exchanging Cutter Gauthier and Jamie Drysdale, with a 2025 second-round pick also headed to Philadelphia. Neither player was attached to the rumor mill in any meaningful way, and it's rare to see teams swap top young players like this without impetus.

The catalyst seemed to be Gauthier's desire to depart the Flyers franchise. Details on why are still light, but an apparently fickle relationship reportedly reached a point of no return, with the Flyers ultimately concluding they needed to pull the trigger on a trade following the 2024 World Junior Championships.

With the level of upside headed to both teams, the ramifications of this trade won't be fully understood for years—and there are reasonable odds that either team could come away the winner in hindsight. Let's analyze the players involved and grade the move for each team as it stands.

Cutter Gauthier was drafted by the Flyers fifth overall in the 2022 draft. Although he played wing in junior hockey, the 19-year-old made the move to center in college because the Flyers felt his game could fit the mold.

At least in some ways, it certainly does. At 6'2" and 189 pounds, Guathier plays a heavy game and is one of the most physically tantalizing forward prospects around. He's strong on his feet and skates like a freight train when moving up the ice.

Gauthier also gets high grades for his scoring ability. His shot is powerful, with strong placement, but he's not only an opportunist. He does well to put himself in positions to score both from above the circles or around the net. Anyone who watched the 2024 World Junior Championship, where Gauthier tallied 12 points in seven games for the gold-medal-winning USA squad, saw how much stronger and faster he was than the rest.

While he has decent processing skills and competent playmaking ability, the move to center has always been one that came with questions. He may not have the total game necessary to play center, but his shot and ability to cover ice vertically and in perimeter battles may make him best suited for the wing in the long run.

If everything goes right, he has the ceiling to become a Chris Kreider type of player. I do wonder if, as the physical advantages go away once he's playing against pros, that does limit him to a second-liner eventually.

Regardless of position, he'll be a major addition for Anaheim. The Ducks have a clear need for forward talent and particularly that of a goal scorer. Mason McTavish and Leo Carlsson are going to be great players because of their well-roundedness, while Trevor Zegras is a playmaker. The organization is short on true goal scorers. Few young players fill that need like Gauthier will.

To address that need, the Ducks traded from a surplus. Jamie Drysdale hasn't quite worked out as hoped in Anaheim so far, and while he still has a lot of upside, the team can afford to move forward without him.

Pavel Mintyukov, taken 10th overall in 2022, is already showing signs of becoming a top offensive defenseman in the NHL. Olen Zellweger, who has 22 points in 29 AHL games as a 20-year-old, is one of the top defense prospects in the world and could fit the mold of a Devon Toews. Jackson LaCombe, Tristan Luneau and Noah Warren are all young players with feasible top-four upside.

The Ducks traded an expendable player and took advantage of an unusual situation to acquire a top prospect who addressed the team's biggest single need. It's a massive win for general manager Pat Verbeek.

Grade: A

If the Flyers had to trade Gauthier, and it appears they did, then the best-case scenario would have been the return of a defenseman with upside.

The Flyers lack standout talent on defense. At the NHL level, Travis Sanheim will turn 28 in March and has been subject to trade rumors in the last year. Cam York has yet to put it all together at age 23, with 15 points in 40 games despite getting power-play time. He looks more like a No. 4/5 defenseman for the future. Sean Walker and Nick Seeler aren't long-term options.

While there are some NHL-caliber prospects in the organization at lower levels, most notably Oliver Bonk, nobody projects as a top-pairing defenseman.

Drysdale gives them some hope in that regard. Drafted sixth overall by Anaheim in 2020, the Toronto native was a superb all-situations defenseman in the Ontario Hockey League. He's a great skater who can move the puck up the ice and make plays from the offensive zone.

When he's at his best, he has both the hands and poise to make big plays and control the flow of the game.

He's had a tough time since turning pro. Although he's shown his ability to help get pucks in the net—Drysdale has averaged 30 points per 82 games in his NHL career—he has not driven possession for his team and has been a defensive liability. According to Evolving Hockey's model, Drysdale ranks in just the 12th percentile of NHL defensemen over the last three seasons.

Let's be fair to Drysdale. He has dealt with multiple injuries that have delayed his development.

Furthermore, Anaheim has not been an easy spot for a young defenseman like him to start his NHL career. The team has been bad overall, and he's had little help around him on defense. For a short time, the Ducks did have him with Hampus Lindholm, but his departure in the middle of the 2021-22 season has left him to play a role that is beyond what he is ready for.

The Ducks' lack of influential centers did not help matters. The team on the whole struggled defensively, and putting a 19-21-year-old with Cam Fowler or Urho Vaakanainen in top-pairing minutes was always going to lead to problems.

The change of scenery could be good for Drysdale. The Flyers may lack upside on defense, but Sanheim, Walker and Seeler are three rock-solid defensemen who will give him a buffer. Sean Couturier is one of the best two-way centers in the NHL. Head coach John Tortorella can be cantankerous, but his hands-on coaching and attention to detail can bring out the best in players struggling to make the most of their talents.

Drysdale is still only just 21, and he is the most talented defenseman Philadelphia has acquired in some time. He should be a future top-four defenseman and power-play quarterback, but with the right curating, he could still yet reach his potential as a top-pairing, All-Star defenseman.

The Flyers are putting on a brave face publicly about the deal, but let's be real. If they had their way, Gauthier would still be in the organization. Given the situation, however, they did well to rescue value. Drysdale fills a major organizational need and, while they lose the trade on value, that does not rule out the possibility that Drysdale becomes the better player in the long run.

Grade: B-