Among the teams that the Flyers discussed a Cutter Gauthier trade with was the Avalanche, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman noted in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link). Friedman suggests that Philadelphia’s target from the Avs may have been blueliner Bowen Byram, an option that wasn’t palatable for Colorado in a one-for-one swap. Of course, Gauthier wound up being moved to Anaheim for another blueliner, Jamie Drysdale, who is off to a nice start with his new team with a pair of assists in his first two games while averaging nearly 21 minutes a night. With Drysdale being a right-shot player and Byram a left-shot blueliner (which Philadelphia has more of in their system), it’s possible that Colorado’s rejection may work out better for them in the long run.
Flyers Rumors
Ducks Send Jamie Drysdale To Flyers For Cutter Gauthier
The Anaheim Ducks have swapped top prospects with the Philadelphia Flyers, trading Jamie Drysdale and a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft for forward Cutter Gauthier. Gauthier is coming off a 2024 World Juniors performance that saw him record two goals and 12 points in seven games.
This trade comes suddenly but may be deeper rooted than fans expect, with The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun sharing that Gauthier wouldn’t meet with the Flyers front office and that he told the club he didn’t want to sign. This report was backed up by Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, making it seem as though Philadelphia’s arm was twisted in the negotiations.
In sending away Gauthier, the Flyers send away one of the league’s top prospects, with the 19-year-old scoring a dazzling 23 points in 17 games as Boston College’s top centerman. It’s a follow-up to his strong season last year, which saw him manage 37 points in 32 games. Gauthier was the fifth overall selection in the 2022 NHL Draft.
The cost for Anaheim is undeniably steep, with the team moving out a former sixth-overall pick and a second-round pick. Drysdale’s season has, much like his early career, been marked by underachievement, with the 21-year-old defenseman boasting just five points through 10 games this season. These junior year struggles could be in part due to injury, with Drysdale missing 29 games so far this season, battling a series of injuries that delayed his start to the year and earned him injured reserve placements.
Philadelphia will look to breathe new life into Drysdale, backed by a blue line that’s become incredibly robust thanks to Sean Walker’s breakout season. Meanwhile, Anaheim brings in a dazzling young centerman who could serve as the successor to veteran Adam Henrique, who has found himself a part of trade rumors with the Trade Deadline approaching. It’s a deal that works for both sides at a glance, though each player will have the rest of their careers to underline just how foolish of a trade this may have been
Flyers Assign Rhett Gardner To AHL
The Flyers have assigned forward Rhett Gardner to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, according to a team statement. Gardner was a healthy scratch in today’s 3-2 win over the Flames.
Gardner signed a two-year, two-way deal with the Flyers in free agency last offseason, and he earned his first recall to the Flyers in mid-December. He was ferried back to Lehigh Valley after the Flyers played their last game before the Christmas break, but they promptly recalled him as the roster freeze wrapped up. The minor-league shutdown center served as injury insurance for most of his time on the NHL roster, as head coach John Tortorella scratched him in seven straight games before he made his season debut Thursday against the Blue Jackets. He entered the lineup in place of Morgan Frost, who sat as a healthy scratch for the 11th time this season but returned to play today.
Frost is an everyday piece of the Flyers’ top nine, posting 11 points in 27 appearances this season, but has earned the ire of Tortorella at points this season. That has resulted in extending benchings, including a six-game streak of scratches early in the season. With Frost still in the fold, though, and no injuries on offense to speak of, it makes sense the Flyers would want to return Gardner to the minors and avoid unnecessarily running out his waiver-exempt status.
The 27-year-old Gardner has now played in parts of four NHL seasons since making his debut in 2019-20, getting into 41 games while recording one goal and one assist. A long-time member of the Stars organization, who acquired his rights with the 116th overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, all 40 of Gardner’s previous major-league games came in a fourth-line role with Dallas. Gardner now returns to the Phantoms, where he has three goals and one assist in his first 21 games with the team.
Metropolitan Notes: Flyers, Pelech, Varlamov
The Philadelphia Flyers have announced they will healthy scratching veteran forward Cam Atkinson tonight when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets. The long-time former Blue Jacket had a terrific start to the year in Philadelphia and has eight goals and 10 assists on the season in 37 games. However, he has struggled as of late with just three assists in his last 17 games and no goals in his last 22 games.
The Flyers also announced that young center Morgan Frost will be a healthy scratch. Frost set career highs last season with 19 goals and 27 assists in 81 games but is on pace for just 33 points this season. The 24-year-old has been far less physical this season and has been somewhat sheltered as he’s seen over 70 percent of his shifts start in the offensive zone. Frost has run very hot and cold this season as he started the year pointless in his first six games before rallying for four points in his next three games. His season has been a cycle of putting up points in bunches and then disappearing from the scoresheet for an extended period.
Both players are unlikely to be held out of the lineup for too long as the club is likely being sent a message by head coach John Tortorella after dropping five of their last six games.
In other Metropolitan Notes:
- Stefan Rosner of NHL.com is reporting that defenseman Adam Pelech of the New York Islanders is getting closer to returning from injury. Pelech has been out of the Islanders lineup since November 24th when he suffered an upper-body injury in a game against the Ottawa Senators. The Toronto, Ontario native struggled to start the year, registering just three assists in his first 16 games while struggling at 5 on 5. He started to put together a stretch of good games leading up to the injury, but unfortunately, he was forced out of the lineup just as he was trending upward.
- Stefan Rosner is also reporting that Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov is dealing with a lower-body injury and will be out day-to-day. According to Rosner, Varlamov will remain with the team on the Islanders’ road trip but will likely not play in the coming days. Varlamov had been dealing with an undisclosed injury late in December and sat out a game on December 29th against the Washington Capitals.
Minor Transactions: 01/03/2024
The hockey world is fulling pulling into the second half of the 2023-24 season, with the 100th anniversary of the Spengler Cup being awarded to the tourney’s host team, HC Davos, and the semi-finals of the World Juniors Championship set to begin soon. This means plenty of exciting time for international hockey, as well as plenty of roster moves, as players return from their national team back to their league play. As always, we’ll cover notable transactions here.
- Philadelphia Flyers prospect Alexis Gendron has seen his QMJHL rights traded from the Gatineau Olympiques to the Drummondville Voltigeurs, with Gatineau receiving three draft picks in return. This must have been what Philadelphia wanted to see, as they’ve assigned Gendron back to the QMJHL for the rest of the season. The 20-year-old, former seventh-round draft pick was previously playing in his first professional season, recording five goals and seven points in 17 AHL games. Gendron has previously played four seasons in the QMJHL – including three with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada – totaling 141 points in 160 games in the league.
- Team Canada’s Spengler Cup team has returned a quartet of players to their AHL squad. This includes the Laval Rockets’ Nicolas Beaudin, the Belleville Senators’ Dillon Heatherington, the Manitoba Moose’s Thomas Milic, and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ Ty Smith. Milic appeared in one game between the pipes for Team Canada, while Smith led the team’s defensemen with five points. Heatherington and Beaudin only combined for one assist through the tournament’s four games.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Flyers Return Alexis Gendron To QMJHL
Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports is reporting that the Pittsburgh Penguins have transferred forward Matthew Nieto to the Long-Term Injured Reserve after activating forward Bryan Rust. Nieto has been out of action for the Penguins with a lower-body injury since November 30th and is free to return whenever he is physically able to as he has already exceeded the 10-game, 24-day requirement for LTIR.
Nieto signed a two-year deal with the Penguins on July 1st and has been terrific on the penalty kill but has struggled at even strength as the fourth line has been ineffective when he has been a part of it thus far. In 22 games this season the 31-year-old Long Beach, California native has a goal and three assists. The timing of Nieto’s injury was unfortunate as he was starting to gain traction in the games leading up to him getting hurt.
In other evening notes:
- Philadelphia Flyers writer Bill Meltzer is reporting that the Flyers have returned forward Alexis Gendron to the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL. The 20-year-old had played in 17 games for the Flyers AHL affiliate the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and had posted five goals and two assists. His QMJHL rights were traded by the Gatineau Olympiques to Drummondville on December 30th meaning he will be suiting up for the Voltigeurs for the first time.
- Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago is reporting that the Chicago Blackhawks are set to welcome defenseman Nikita Zaitsev back to the lineup tonight when they take on the Nashville Predators. The 32-year-old has been out with an illness and will draw back into the lineup in place of Isaak Phillips after a two-game absence. Zaitsev has dressed in 18 games this season and has averaged 15:42 of ice time per game while registering a goal and four assists.
Prospect Ivan Ciernik Out Of World Juniors Due To Injury
- Flyers prospect Alex Ciernik has been replaced on Slovakia’s World Junior roster due to injury, relays Dennik Sport’s Matej Deraj (Twitter link). The 19-year-old was in his second appearance in the tournament and had one assist in three preliminary round contests. Ciernik was a fourth-round pick by Philadelphia back in June, going 120th overall.
Evening Notes: Tortorella, Askarov, Joseph, Suzdalev
Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella made history on Friday, become the eighth man to coach in 1,500 NHL games. The milestone was reached via a matchup with the Seattle Kraken that ended in a 2-1 overtime loss for the Flyers. But despite dropping his most recent game, Tortorella has been fantastically successful for much of the rest of this season, currently boasting a 19-11-5 record that has Philadelphia ranked third in the Metropolitan Division. This comes despite Philadelphia being considered one of the league’s rebuilders entering the season, with many expecting the team to start off slow under a new general manager and a second-year head coach.
But Tortorella has pulled the Flyers above their expectations, following an interesting pattern of missing the playoffs in his first full season with a new team but driving towards the post-season in his second year. Tortorella has done the same for every club that he’s coached for, save for the Vancouver Canucks, who he only spent one season with.
Tortorella joins an exclusive list by hitting the 1,500-game mark. Only seven other head coaches have hit the mark – and, interestingly, only three coaches in the Top 10 of games played are officially retired. Four coaches on the list are currently behind NHL benches – with Tortorella joined by Florida’s Paul Maurice, New Jersey’s Lindy Ruff, and New York’s Peter Laviolette. The list also features Barry Trotz, who is taking a break from coaching to serve as the Nashville Predators general manager, and Joel Quenneville and Darryl Sutter, who are both coaching free agents with differing levels of optimism around if they may coach again in the future.
Other notes from around the league:
- The Nashville Predators have sent top goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov to the minor leagues. Askarov played in two games while with the Predators roster, saving 33 of a possible 35 shots. Askarov has also played in 15 AHL games this season, setting an 8-6-1 record and .908 save percentage.
- Pierre-Olivier Joseph is set to miss the Penguins’ Sunday night matchup against the New York Islanders, continuing to sit out with illness. Joseph’s last game was on December 16th. He’s played in eight NHL games this year, recording one assist and a -3.
- Washington Capitals 2022 second-round draft pick Alexander Suzdalev has had his WHL rights traded from the Regina Pats to the Saskatoon Blades. Regina received three players and three draft picks in return, including a first round pick in the 2026 Draft. Suzdalev scored 86 points in 66 WHL games last season, adding 10 points in seven playoff games. But he’s since returned to Sweden, playing in 13 games and scoring three points with Mora IK of Sweden’s second league. This blockbuster WHL move could be a sign that Suzdalev is poised for a return to Canadian juniors.
Travis Konecny Departs Game With Illness
- Flyers forward Travis Konecny departed yesterday’s 4-1 win over the Canucks prematurely due to illness, head coach John Tortorella told reporters postgame (via NHL.com’s Bill Meltzer). Konecny logged an assist and two shots on goal in 14:55 of ice time but, as Tortorella said, felt worse as the game progressed and had to exit the contest after taking two shifts in the third period. His availability for tonight’s contest against the Kraken is unclear. If he’s not healthy enough to play, 27-year-old Rhett Gardner will make his Flyers debut after being recalled on Wednesday.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Philadelphia Flyers
As the new year approaches, PHR will be taking a look at what teams are thankful for in 2023-24. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Philadelphia Flyers.
Who are the Flyers thankful for?
John Tortorella
The dominant storyline of this Flyers season has been the team’s unexpected competitiveness. The team is currently 18-11-4, which places them third place in the Metropolitan Division but only one point behind the New York Islanders with a game in hand.
Tortorella’s fingerprints are all over the Flyers’ unexpected strength this season.
Tortorella has long been highly regarded for his ability to get the most out of teams who enter most nights at a talent disadvantage compared to their opponents.
He keeps his teams highly accountable, extremely hard-working, and generally maintains a fierce commitment to a hard-to-break-down defensive structure.
The 2023-24 Flyers have been exactly that sort of team. While they’re among the league’s lower-scoring teams, they rank inside the top 10 in terms of the fewest goals surrendered per game and surrender the fifth-fewest shots against per game. In addition, their penalty kill is a bright spot as it ranks fifth in the NHL, killing penalties at an 87.5% rate.
Tortorella is accomplishing all this with the help of talented defensive players such as Sean Couturier and Scott Laughton, though he has also overseen significant player development for specific Flyers. Owen Tippett and Morgan Frost went from first-round “bust” conversations to scoring 27 goals and 46 points, respectively, while blueliners such as Sean Walker and Rasmus Ristolainen have each notably improved under Tortorella’s watch from where they were before.
The Flyers are attempting a large-scale, long-term rebuild with the hope of building a contending team that can compete for Stanley Cups on a legitimate basis for a long period of time. Part of that strategy has been acquiring high-end players through the draft, and it’s true that Tortorella’s success has made it less likely that the Flyers will have a top pick at the 2024 draft.
That being said, the development of the existing players in the Flyers organization is also of paramount importance to the Flyers’ rebuild, and much of the Flyers’ recent winning under Tortorella has come off the back of the development of numerous players.
What are the Flyers thankful for?
A weaker-than-expected Metropolitan Division.
Remember how the Flyers are within striking distance of second place in the Metropolitan Division? Let’s look at how they got there. While the Flyers’ climb in the standings has been in large part due to their own improved play, the sputtering form of many teams who were expected to be division heavyweights this season has helped them along.
Porous goaltending and an inconsistent offensive attack has cost the Hurricanes this season, and while they are comfortably in a Wild Card spot they do not appear to be the contenders for the division title that they have been in recent years.
The Capitals have recovered from a slow start under new head coach Spencer Carbery, but their offensive attack does not have the juice it has had in recent years, and they do not have a single player currently on pace to score 55 or more points.
The Devils have fought through poor goaltending and poor defensive play all season, and those issues combined with injuries have led to a far slower-than-expected start. And in Pittsburgh, team-wide inconsistency has led to a squad capable of decimating a team 7-0 on one night (as they did yesterday) and then losing by the same margin on another.
While each of those teams could reasonably re-enter the playoff picture over the course of the rest of the season, so far their struggles have paved the way for Flyers fans to have legitimate hope for playoff hockey. Is that something that could be reasonably hoped for just a few months ago? Probably not, which means Flyers fans have quite a bit to be thankful for.
What would the Flyers be even more thankful for?
An improved power play.
The Flyers’ blueprint for success this season has been mixing hard work and a stringent commitment to defensive hockey in order to grind out wins against teams who frequently boast more talented lineups. While that blueprint has brought the Flyers into playoff position in this early portion of the season, there have been some costs attached.
First and foremost, the Flyers’ power play currently ranks as the NHL’s worst, converting on just 10.6% of its chances. Even the St. Louis Blues, who suffered through a historically poor start on the man advantage, have now surpassed the Flyers.
In part due to the Flyers’ inability to put together consistent offense on the power play, several of the team’s offensive players have either failed to take meaningful steps forward or taken steps back in terms of production.
Morgan Frost scored 46 points last season but instead of vaulting into the 50-60 point region, he is now on pace to score 32 points. It’s a similar story for Noah Cates, who scored 38 points as a rookie but scored only four this season before going down with an injury. There was hope Tyson Foerster would make an instant impact after scoring seven points in eight games down the stretch last season, but his adjustment has been slower than anticipated and he is on pace to score 33 points.
The Flyers’ defensemen, goaltenders, and select forwards are enjoying positive campaigns for their development. But unless the power play can get on track, the Flyers won’t be operating to their maximum capabilities from a player development perspective.
What should be on the Flyers’ holiday wish list?
An answer to Sean Walker’s future in Philadelphia.
One of the breakout players for the Flyers this season has been Walker, a 29-year-old defenseman acquired this past summer from the Los Angeles Kings. He has seen his ice time leap up from just 14:50 per game last season to 20:49 in this campaign. He’s helped anchor one of the league’s better penalty kill units and is even seeing some time on the power play.
But although Walker has emerged as one of the Flyers’ top blueliners, the reality is that he’s already 29 years old and his improved play will likely mean he’ll command a pay raise over his $2.65MM cap hit this season. For a Flyers team still building for a contending window a little bit more distant in the future, (for when Matvei Michkov is able to sign from Russia, for example) it’s fair to wonder if Walker fits into that timeline.
Any Walker extension would likely deliver the most return on investment in its first few years, and with Ristolainen and Travis Sanheim already on hefty contract extensions, there may not be room for another veteran addition.
This leaves the Flyers in a difficult spot. Do they dangle Walker on the trade market, where he would potentially be a top right-shot option and net the team valuable future assets? Or do they retain him as their own “rental” player to help them keep hold of the playoff spot they currently sit in, even if that means allowing Walker to leave in free agency?
The Flyers’ play moving forward will likely dictate which route they choose to go down, but more than anything else Flyers fans should be hoping to receive some sort of clarity on the future of one of this season’s bigger breakout players.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images