Upset Flyers fans should remember Lindros
Flyers fans who are hot under the laced collar that highprofile prospect Cutter Gauthier, 19, didn’t want to play for the Broad Streeters might want to peel the calendar back 30-plus years for a Karma 101 refresher course.
Eric Lindros, chosen No. 1 by the Nordiques in the 1991 draft, blatantly refused to play for Quebec and ultimately helped engineer his trade to Philadelphia the following June.
Flashback: Handed a Nordiques sweater on draft day, L’enfant Terrible ignored long-held custom and refused to pull the fleur-de-lis over his head for the customary photo op. As far as coronations go, it was “un buzzkill géant.”
The Flyers on Monday, contending their attempts to talk with Gauthier and/or negotiate a contract were rebuffed, flipped the Boston College winger to the Ducks for Jamie Drysdale ,a young but proven, right-shot NHL defenseman (age 21). The Ducks also surrendered a Round 2 pick in 2025. Gauthier was Philly’s top pick, No. 5 overall, in the 2022 draft.
It was a solid deal for both sides, and one virtually guaranteed not to blow up Wile E. Coyote-style like the one in 1992 in which the Flyers, smitten with Lindros’s size, skill, and strength, lavished the Nordiques with a trove of assets that included Hall of Famer-to-be Peter Forsberg. Lindros surely found his way to the Hall, too, but the sublime Forsberg, among the game’s fiercest competitors, arrived with two Stanley Cup rings won with the Quebec franchise after its move to Denver. Allez Nords!, by the way, and please keep the candle burning up there.
So, sure, Flyers fans and management are entitled to a morsel or two of indignation that Gauthier, fresh from helping Team USA to the World Junior gold medal, spurned the Flying P. But best to remember, it’s a business, always and forever, and anyone in Philly getting their short pants and long socks in a bunch need only to remember their utter glee when No. 88 snubbed the Nordiques and came swashbuckling into town as the franchise savior. “Barkeep, line up them Cups,” chortled all the friends of the Broad Street Bullies.
That Lindros deal also should serve as poignant reminder that, no matter the gifts of that newly minted generational talent, it takes so much more for any franchise to chisel out 16 wins come springtime. It never happened for Lindros in Philly, or later with the Rangers.
There was immediate, rampant speculation about why Gauthier, second in BC scoring, steered clear of the Flyers. Some of it alleged he did not want to play for the irascible, overbearing John Tortorella. Some of it alleged ex-Flyer Kevin Hayes warned Gauthier to stay away, something Hayes and Gauthier quickly dismissed as absurdity. Some of it contended that Gauthier eagerly sought to turn pro after his freshman year at The Heights but the Flyers didn’t share equal interest.
Kurt Overhardt, Gauthier’s agent, offered little insight when contacted by The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, though he did say, contrary to what Flyers general manager Danny Briere posited, that there “definitely” had been conversations between the sides.
“We’ve decided to take the high road,” added Overhardt, “and leave all that information private.”
Tortorella, when asked about Gauthier, said he “didn’t know Cutter from a hole in the wall.” Torts, forever a way with words. He then expressed his eagerness to work the skilled Drysdale into the lineup, particularly on the power play. Gauthier page, turned.
Ducks GM Pat Verbeek positioned it as a rare opportunity to add a potential high-scoring winger, something he felt the prospect-rich Ducks talent pipeline lacks. The Ducks have a potential franchise center, rookie Leo Carlsson, already on the job. Carlsson and Gauthier, both born in Sweden, have the potential to be a new-age Ryan GetzlafCorey Perry combo in Anaheim for a decade or more, if anyone out there cares to put the Zamboni way, way ahead of the Cup parade.
One last thing, often overlooked, but very much worth remembering: The collective bargaining agreement allows most college players the opportunity to proclaim free agency upon completing their fourth season. Jimmy Vesey exercised that right in the summer following his four years at Harvard. Blake Wheeler, originally a Coyotes draft pick, signed with the Bruins after being granted unrestricted free agent eligibility following three seasons at the University of Minnesota (he carried a year’s “credit” from USHL Green Bay).
In Gauthier’s case, had his antiPhilly conviction been so fervent, he could have played all four seasons at BC and stonewalled his way to UFA at age 22 in the summer of 2026. In fact, he still has that option with the Ducks, who’ll have every intention of getting his name on a deal within hours after he plays his final game with the Eagles this spring. OK, make that minutes, not hours. The Flyers knew all that, and rather than seeing an elite prospect disappear into the wind, they made themselves a smart, solid deal for a prime right-shot defenseman who could prove to be an anchor tenant on their blue line for a decade or more. That’s just good business. Philly folks know all about that.
GREAT EIGHT Major story lines from first half
The 82-game NHL schedule has flipped to the second half.
So, before we all begin conjuring our swap matrices around the March 8 trade deadline, a look back at eight intriguing story lines across the Original 32 in the first half:
Alex Ovechkin. The Great Eight’s legendary goal-scoring touch plummeted down the charts with an Enron-like flair. The Capitals winger began the season with 822 goals, needing 73 to eclipse Wayne Gretzky’s all-time mark. As the weekend approached, the 38year-old winger still needed 65. At this rate, he’ll struggle to reach 20, less than half of his 42 last season. OK, Nicklas Backstrom is gone, but it appears age, and not his absent setup pal in crime, is the issue. He has two years left on his deal at a $9.5 million AAV. Mercy.
The Winnipeg Jets. That quaint little operation in Manitoba, playing in that quaint little building, in recent days took ownership of the No. 1 spot in the league standings. Credit to exBruins coach Rick Bowness, who’s had to navigate job demands while needing time off to help his wife deal with health issues. Big props, too, to GM
Kevin Cheveldayoff, who coaxed franchise goalie Connor Hellebuyck and top scorer Mark Scheifele into long-term extensions. Both stars have produced in lockstep with their shrewd GM.
Erik Karlsson. Thus far, the kismet has come up short for the Fenway Sports Group’s big acquisition. New Penguins GM Kyle Dubas made what looked like the deal of the summer, filching the flashy Norris Trophy winner from the Sharks, with a cap hit slightly trimmed to $10 million. Yet coach Mike Sullivan still hasn’t quite finagled a way to get maximum backline pop out of Karlsson and longtime wizard Kris Letang. Sometimes they just don’t work out the way you draw ’em up, right? Meanwhile, the Penguins are in a cat-and-mouse chase to land a wildcard playoff seed. They have some legendary talent in that lineup. Seems it just shouldn’t be this hard.
Sam Reinhart. Along with Auston Matthews and Nikita Kucherov, the Panthers’ center has a legit shot at 60 goals — after never potting more than 33. Heck of a time to have a contract year. Given that the Maple Leafs just handed forward William Nylander a gigunda bag of cash (eight years at $11.5 million per), Reinhart’s a shoo-in for $10 million. The ex-Sabres pick (selected six rungs higher than Nylander in the 2014 draft) is expected to re-up in Sunrise. If not, he’ll have abundant suitors on July 1, perhaps including the Bruins, who still have a need for a bona fide No. 1 right-shot pivot.
Connor Bedard. We’re not likely to see the Blackhawks rookie back in the lineup for at least 6-8 weeks, following surgery at the start of the week to repair a broken jaw (compliments of a Jan. 5 collision with the Devils’ Brendan Smith). Bedard exited as the top rookie point-getter, on a pace for 69. Much like Oilers star Connor McDavid (45 games, 48 points his rookie season), Bedard has been every bit the phenom advertised ahead of last June’s draft. It was injury, by the way, that limited McDavid to the 45 games his freshman season. He ended up third in Calder balloting. No. 1. Chicago’s Artemi Panarin; No. 2. Philadelphia’s Shayne Gostisbehere.
Connor Ingram. In net for Tuesday’s overtime win over the Bruins, the Coyote has been among the league’s top goaltenders since moving into the No. 1 role at the end of October. Originally a Tampa Bay pick, and considered a fringe prospect before arriving in Tempe at age 25, he credits a prolonged stay in the Player Assistance Program for getting his life/career on solid ground, after years of dealing with undiagnosed obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). He recently noted to NHL.com’s Amalie Benjamin how psychotherapy continues to guide him. “For the rest of my life,” he said, “I’ll sit in a stranger’s chair and tell them my problems once a week. It’s just a fact of my life.”
Luke Hughes. The Hughes boys just keep on coming, as if manufactured in an elite hockey lab. His arrival not as ballyhooed as brothers Jack
(New Jersey) or Quinn (Vancouver), No. 3 in the Family Hughes series has had immediate impact on the Devils’ backline. Now, with Bedard sidelined, he could end up the Calder winner. Look closely, and it’s hard not to think of smooth-skating ex-Devils defenseman
Scott Niedermayer when Hughes has the wheels going, puck at the end of his stick. Coach Lindy Ruff recently paid even greater homage. “You think of some of the great skaters in the game,” said Ruff, invoking the names Brian Leetch and Paul Coffey. Hughes & Co. will be in Boston Monday.
David Pastrnak. His scoring pace has cooled slightly, but the Bruins’ star right winger is still on pace for 50 goals, a dip from last season’s career-high 61. All the more impressive; his top two setup guys, Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, now pivot for Team AARP, yet Pasta keeps on firing and scoring. As the weekend approached, he had a league-high 208 shots on goal, a category he led last season with 407. Yep, he shot 4.96 times per game when riding with two of the best centers in the game, and this season has averaged 5.07. Coach Jim Montgomery told Pastrnak last spring that the burden would be greater this season. “Don’t worry,” said Pastrnak. “I got it.”
ETC. This year could be a big deal
Impactful in-season trades are rare, and all the more difficult to execute in the NHL’s restrictive salary cap system. Typically, when big names move these days, it’s almost exclusively around the trade deadline, with non-playoff teams offloading pending UFAs and Cup contenders taking on players who end up being one-offs.
The Bruins took the latter approach last spring when adding Dmitry Orlov, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Garnet Hathaway. All three were worthy, effective additions. All three scattered to new homes in the July UFA market.
The prior spring, GM Don Sweeney plucked Hampus Lindholm in a deal with the Ducks and quickly signed the skilled backliner to a long-term extension. That’s about as close to a bona fide “hockey trade” as we get in the cap era.
None of that was of the magnitude of the November 1975 deal that saw Bruins GM Harry Sinden wheel Phil Esposito and Carol Vadnais to the Rangers for Jean Ratelle and Brad Park. Ditto for the January 1992 Flames-Maple Leafs megaswap that saw Doug
Gilmour land as the centerpiece in Toronto and the November 2005 deal that wheeled Joe Thornton from Boston to San Jose (too soon?)
It’s tricky business to predict the next earthquake, but from here, Ottawa and Tampa Bay look like prime candidates to make in-season deals that would shake the Richter scale.
Ottawa has a bunch of kids making $8 million a year, core pieces in what has been an astoundingly disappointing product. All of those kids, including team captain Brady Tkachuk, can be dealt readily because all are below the UFA age/tenure threshold. It’s why the Bruins had the ability to wheel Tyler Seguin in the summer of 2013, only some 10 months after then-GM Peter Chiarelli signed him to a lucrative, long contract extension.
The Lightning, clinging to a wildcard seed in the East, have not been Ottawa bad, but their profile has slipped considerably. No one felt the Bruins were ripe for a big swap in 1975, and few might think that way about Tampa at the moment. The Lightning indeed look vulnerable. But it’s complicated. GM Julien BriseBois doesn’t have the leverage that counterpart Steve Staios has in Ottawa. Other than Anthony Cirelli — a player BriseBois would be loath to move — the rest of Tampa’s headliners would have to be asked to waive their no-move protection.
Both franchises look like they need a change in direction and culture, enough so that maybe the rare big inseason deal is about to occur.
Loose pucks
Jeremy Swayman’s plight in Arizona, summoned into action in overtime when Linus Ullmark was injured, was yet another reminder there has to be a better way for backup goaltenders to spend their night other than sitting and watching. It’s prudent from a “study the shooters” perspective, but it’s asking way too much for goalies to be thrust into the race from a sitting start. True, the equipment is cumbersome and takes time to strap on, but the game would be better served if accommodations were made for backups at least to be able to stand, walk, and keep legs moving around during the game . . .
For those who may have forgotten, the other assets the Flyers surrendered in the Eric Lindros acquisition: Steve Duchesne, Ron Hextall, Kerry Huffman, Mike Ricci, Chris Simon, and a pair of Round 1 draft picks. With Peter Forsberg aboard, the Avalanche won the Cup in 1996 and 2001, the latter with Ray Bourque the clinching piece added by then-GM Pierre Lacroix . . . Ex-Bruins goaltender Anton Khudobin, who started the season in the VHL (Russia’s version of the AHL), is now with KHL Novosibirsk. Per Russian media reports, Doby’s deal pays the equivalent of approximately $80,000 (US dollars)
. . . The Bruins and Avalanche Monday night were tagged with matching penalties for too many men on the ice, something your faithful puck chronicler had never witnessed. A quick check with the NHL stats department found that it happened seven times over the last 50 years. The most recent: Colorado at Edmonton, Nov. 30, 2006 . . . The NHL, now 106 years old, in January 1918 made the first amendment to its rulebook: not penalizing goalies for leaving their skates and dropping to the ice to make saves. It was a three-team league in those days (Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens, and Toronto Arenas) and only an 18-game season.
When asked about the rule change, then-league president Frank Calder supposedly quipped, “As far as I’m concerned, they can stand on their heads.” Words that echo to this day, a goalie often lauded for “standing on his head” when providing a stellar performance.