Cutter Gauthier trade “long time coming,” Flyers GM Danny Briere says. Here’s why.

PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) — The Philadelphia Flyers’ trade of Cutter Gauthier was a “long time coming,” general manager Danny Briere explained Monday night after he moved the high-scoring college left winger to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a 2025 second-round draft pick.

Briere said he traded Gauthier, the fifth overall pick in the 2022 NHL draft, because Gauthier wouldn’t sign, train or even communicate with the Flyers. Gauthier refused to meet with Briere and Flyers President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones when they flew to Sweden last month to watch as Gauthier led the U.S. team to the gold medal at the recently completed World Junior Championship.

“It was a long time coming,” Briere said. “It’s been going on for a while. We tried to give him space. We tried to get in touch with him many times. He would not communicate … so at some point, we had to make a decision, and we thought with what happened just a few days ago, this was probably the time to get the highest value.”

Gauthier initially told the Flyers that he wouldn’t join them last summer, a year after they drafted him. Briere said he purposely didn’t announce Gauthier’s reluctance or comment publicly on his increasingly awkward relationship with Philly’s top prospect.

“It was to try to protect the kid,” Briere said. “We were hoping that at some point he would change his mind. He had already changed his mind. He looked at us at the draft and told us he was built to be a Flyer, wanted to be a Flyer, and then a few months later, told us that he didn’t want to be a Flyer, didn’t want to play for the Flyers.

“So in our mind at first, we said, ‘We have to protect him, because if he changes his mind again, it’s going to be tough for him to put the uniform on.’ But when we realized that he refused to talk to us now, it’s been months and he didn’t want to be a Flyer, didn’t want to be in Philadelphia, it was time to make it happen.”

Asked for his reaction to Gauthier’s disinterest in playing in Philadelphia, Flyers coach John Tortorella said, “I don’t know Cutter from a hole in a wall. I’m not too interested in talking about him. I’d rather talk about Jamie. He’s the guy that’s coming here.”

The 21-year-old Jamie Drysdale was the sixth overall pick in the 2020 draft by Anaheim, and he has grown into a puck-moving defenseman who had 32 points during his first full NHL season in 2021-22. After missing nearly all of last season due to injury and getting a late start to this season because of another injury, Drysdale has one goal and four assists in 10 games for Anaheim.

“Not very often you get the chance to find a Jamie Drysdale that you can add to your lineup. When that came about and his name was made available, we got really excited,” Briere said. “A chance to add a player of this caliber to a premium position as a right-shot defenseman for a left winger, just made a lot of sense and we felt it was the right time to do it.”

“It’s such a good deal for us,” Tortorella added. “In the process we’re at right now, it’s perfect timing. Really excited.”

The Ducks have a wealth of talented young defensemen in their system, including the Defenseman of the Year in all three Canadian major junior leagues.

Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek used one of his top blue-line talents to boost the Ducks, who have scored the NHL’s second-fewest goals over the past three seasons.

“I really like Jamie Drysdale as a player,” Verbeek said. “(But) I had to look at our overall group, and I think based on all the 18 one-goal games we’ve lost this year, I wanted to give the group someone that could help us get over the hump.”

Drysdale is expected to practice with the Flyers on Tuesday.