John Tortorella makes it clear he doesn’t care that Cutter Gauthier is playing his first game against the Flyers

It’s hard to believe that the entire Cutter-Gauthier saga went down almost a year ago. Gauthier just helped Team USA to a gold medal at the World Juniors as the Flyers’ fifth overall draft pick in 2022. Flyers fans were so excited to watch this kid and expected him to wear an orange in just a few months would put on a sweater after his season at Boston College ended. And then, a few days after the tournament, it emerged that Gauthier had cut off all communication with the Flyers and refused to ever play in Philly because it hurt him by going undrafted after his freshman season. Therefore, he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Jamie Drysdale before playing a single game for the Flyers. The rest is history.

It feels like it’s been forever. And to be completely honest, over the last 11 months, after the dust has settled, it’s easy to forget that Cutter Gauthier even exists. He fought his way out of the gates and certainly won’t set the world on fire in Anaheim. I’m sure he’ll develop into a solid NHL player, but he doesn’t do anything that would make you feel like the Flyers missed out on a superstar talent after he left this organization. Especially not when Matvei Michkov has been so electrifying since his arrival. Every time Michkov touches the puck, it becomes easier and easier to forget that Gauthier was ever a part of this organization.

So this is an extremely uncomfortable situation for Cutter Gauthier to find himself in this afternoon. Now he has to play against the team that drafted him, placed so much value on him, and he retaliated by throwing a tantrum and completely giving up. Even after the Flyers tried so many times to contact the boy to smooth things over, he acted like a child because he felt entitled and had no one in his life to give him a reality check. He got that reality check from Philly fans and media when the trade fell through and the city definitely cornered him on the way out. Now I suspect he feels like he has some kind of “vendetta” against Philly.

But for John Tortorella? Well, he just doesn’t give a shit.

This is not a revenge game for Torts. This is not a rivalry game. This is just a game on Saturday afternoon in late December against the Anaheim Ducks. Neither more nor less.

It’s always hard to be someone who has a game circled on the calendar but the other team doesn’t even know it’s you.

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Here’s the thing: Even if Torts doesn’t give a damn about Cutter Gauthier or anything the quitter has to say, I’m sure there are some people on this list who will send a message to the kid about disrespecting the Boys want to send organization the way he did. So I’m sure this game will set off a few fireworks every time he’s on the ice. In the history of these two teams, there has never been a single game between the Flyers and Ducks that has had any significance. Until this afternoon. You may not give a shit about pie, but I consider this game to be the “must-watch” game to play between two non-playoff NHL teams on a Saturday afternoon in December. See you all at 4 p.m.

@JordieBarstool