Cutter Gauthier finally opens up about monster trade, addresses Kevin Hayes rumours

A lot of things have been said ever since the Philadelphia Flyers traded forward Cutter Gauthier to the Anaheim Ducks in return for defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a second-round selection in the 2025 NHL draft. While chatter grew rampant, nothing was said from Gauthier himself, only his agent, Kurt Overhardt, spoke with insider Pierre LeBrun to reveal that it was a matter of a “private issue between the player and his family.” Here is the statement Overhardt made to LeBrun on Tuesday night:

“It’s a private issue between the player and his family. We definitely had conversations with Philadelphia, very respectable conversations with Philadelphia about it. We’ve chosen just to take the high road and leave all that information private.”

Finally on Wednesday evening, Gauthier himself spoke about the reasons behind the trade, and while he reiterated his agent’s comments, he also made sure to deny any rumours that linked former Flyers forward Kevin Hayes to his decision not to sign in Philadelphia.

Earlier this week, the now St. Louis Blues forward rejected the notion that he had any involvement in Gauthier’s decision not to sign with the team. The poor guy even received death threats over the rumours.

“It’s 100 per cent false,” Hayes said on Tuesday. “I don’t know where he got his information from. At first it didn’t really seem like a big deal. But just the s—t that’s come from the aftermath, people with death threats, people want my family dead, people happy my brother’s dead.

“It’s just crazy stuff coming out on something I had not a single aspect of what I’ve done, had any implications on this kid’s decision.”

On the Light the Lamp podcast with Alexis Downie, Gauthier spoke about the trade and also addressed the rumours involving Hayes.

“Kinda tough to talk about. I’d like to announce that it’s a personal matter between myself, my family and my agent, Kurt. I did see one thing going around on the internet that I would like to specifically address : the rumours about Kevin Hayes. I would like to officially say that he had zero, zero conflict with anything that had to do with the trade and seeing all that stuff is pretty ruthless from what people are saying about that, so Kevin Hayes had nothing to do with the situation. I can’t really talk too much about it, I’m going to keep it to myself and my family, and my agent.”

While the real reason for his decision to leave Philly isn’t clear, at least the young forward had the decency to clear Hayes’ name and make sure he does not get dragged into this.

In the podcast, Gauthier expressed how excited he is to join the rebuild in Anaheim once his season in Boston is over.

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