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Suddenly, the Gauthier Trade Doesn’t Seem That Bad, Eh?
Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)
So, like most Flyers fans, this writer was shocked when the news came out that the Flyers’ top prospect, Cutter Gauthier, had been traded because he no longer wanted to play for Philadelphia. The reason why this news caught so many off guard is because, as most any player that has suited up here in the past will tell you, this town has arguably the most passionate and knowledgeable fans of any city that garners a professional sports franchise. And, if you’re a player who gives it your all and leaves nothing out on the ice, court, field, etc., your efforts will never be forgotten (to prove this, just look at Bernie Parent and the rest of the Broad Street Bullies). That’s why so many retired players never end up moving away from the area.
Now I get it. Cutter may have his reasons, but he should have at least shown respect enough for the organization that drafted him to share with them why he didn’t want to play for them anymore. I mean, the team did their homework. He was the best player available at the time, as my mock draft from that year confirmed. And, in pre-draft interviews, Gauthier did tell the Flyers Brass that “He was born to be a Flyer” blah blah blah. Now, what changed his mind from the time of the draft to a few months later, when he then told the team he no longer wished to play for them, we may never know. But for him to outright refuse to have a conversation with Stanley Cup winners John LeClair and Patrick Sharp when they traveled all the way up to Boston to meet with him on campus. Not to mention refusing to talk to the Flyers’ President of Hockey OPS, Keith Jones, and General Manager Danny Briere after they traveled all the way to Sweden to sit down with him at World Juniors to try and iron this all out. WOW!!! This kid has SOME BALLS!
Regardless, the team did the right thing and moved on by trading Gauthier when his value could not be any higher. Cutter had just won a Gold Medal for Team USA and took home the honor of being named the tournament’s MVP. And with him still declining to speak to the Flyers, he all but forced their hand.
The Return
Now, as we all may have heard, and probably was the reason we made a point to tune in to watch last night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens just to see him play. The Flyers were able to bring back a pretty special player in return for Gauthier. His name is Jamie Drysdale, a 21-year-old right-hand shot defenseman who the team acquired from the Anaheim Ducks along with a 2025 second-round pick.
Jamie, who played junior hockey for the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League, was taken sixth overall in the first round of the 2020 Draft. As you saw last night, he is a very agile defender who uses his skating ability to help him not only make great outlet passes but excel in the offensive zone as well.
Although he is predominantly thought of as a setup man who can cycle the puck along the blue line effortlessly, Jamie will not turn down the chance to jump up into the play when the opportunity presents itself in order to create his own scoring opportunities.
That’s why, with so few players presently playing in the NHL that possess an innate skill set such as his, he was able to come in with only one practice under his belt with the Flyers and immediately be placed on the top pairing alongside Travis Sanheim as well, as being trusted enough by Tortorella to be thrown out there on the team’s top power-play unit (which has been struggling this year, to say the least) and somehow instantaneously willed himself to become an impact player for them. As he was when he was able to set up Frost last night for a goal during what was just his first man advantage as a Flyer.
Of course, there must be a reason why the Ducks would be willing to part with such a young, coveted right-hand shot defender who has already proven himself capable of playing top-pairing minutes in the NHL for the likes of a promising prospect like Gauthier who apparently has a bit of a complex right?
Well, in fact, there is. Although Jamie managed to impress many in Anaheim during his four seasons spent there, he only managed to play in 123 games during that time. This means that this 5’11, 185-pound blue liner has already managed to miss a combined 103 games due to him sustaining multiple injuries over the years.
Can he overcome this with a little more time spent with the Flyer’s strength and conditioning coach? Probably, but it is a bit concerning, nonetheless.
Still, given the unfortunate hand that the Flyers were dealt, I think the team’s newly appointed management was able to add a very impactful player to their already youthful core, who will now be able to continue to grow their game together in the coming years.
I mean, come on, I know losing a guy like Cutter hurts, but Drysdale could be that elusive top-pairing right-hand shot defender that the team has been trying to find for years now. He is still just 21 years of age and just signed a very team-friendly three-year deal that will pay him just $2.3 million annually until the end of the 2025-26 season. On top of that, Philadelphia also gained another second-round pick in the 2025 draft, which they could use to select one of many exciting players like Zachary Morin, Owen Griffith, Aiden Lane, or my personal favorite, Jordan Gavin, who all are currently predicted to still be on the board at that time.
Steel’s Corner: To Playoffs or Not to Playoffs, that is the question for the Steelers
To Playoffs or Not to Playoffs, that is the question for the Steelers!
The final two games of the regular season are upon the Pittsburgh Steelers. And they are potentially on the verge of a playoff berth, provided the stars,planets, and moon all align, but of course, that means that the Steelers need to win out!
Given that the Steelers are currently “In the Hunt” but basically on the outside looking into the playoffs. What with the two devastating losses to the Cardinals and then to the Patriots in successive weeks. The win last week to the rival Bengals only makes this cut a little deeper. Let me bend your eyes for a moment.
On the weekend of Thanksgiving, the Steelers had just defeated the Bengals for the first time this season and, at 7-4, had a good hold on not only a playoff berth but even potentially the division. It was the first game since Matt Canada had been fired, and the team put up 421 yards in that win against Cincinnati. Everything and everyone was riding that high of Victory Formation!
The next two games are against opponents that have a combined 4-20 record this season in the NFL. Kenny Pickett was to lead the team against two teams that had a suspect defense and could only muster four wins between the two teams all year to this point. There was confidence abounded in press conferences, and some help was returning on defense for these next two games, and that is when the tires came off.
The Arizona Cardinals came into Pittsburgh for a homecoming game for James Connor. That is just what happened, as James Conner put up over 100 yards rushing and scored a touchdown to cap off the fact that Kenny Pickett went down with an ankle injury, and Mitch Trubisky had to come in and mop up literally. Pittsburgh did what they could least afford to do: lose to a 2-10 team.
If that was not a bed of roses, how about if they go from bad to worse when the Patriots opened a can of whoop-ass on the Steelers in front of a home crowd. The Steelers have dropped another game to a 2-10 team this season in back-to-back weeks. Of all the things that the team could ill afford to do was lose two games in a row to two teams going the opposite direction this year. Can I put my finger on the facts as to what led to these losses today? Well, how about a defense that gave up considerable yardage and points?
Not only did they allow for a 100-yard rusher one week and a 240-yard passer the following week, but they also gave up 51 points to two of the lowest-rated offenses in the league. These two games, by far, were the worst performances by the Steelers this season, from special teams to coaching, to the offense or lack thereof.
Just when you thought, alright, there is no way that the Steelers could drop three in a row after losing to two 2-10 teams in back-to-back weeks, right? Well, that is precisely what happened as the Colts proceeded to dismantle the Steelers as they dropped their third game in a row to the Colts 13-30. In case you are counting, and I am, that is 81 points that this defense gave up in three weeks, and as far as I am concerned, it does not matter that your offense is impotent, but your defense is not even able to stop the lowest ranked offenses in the league.
Now, just a few days before kick-off of the final two games of the regular season for the Steelers, the team is not in control of their own destiny when they had it in their grasp only a few short weeks ago. Because of these losses, this team needs a lot of help even to get a chance at the playoffs this year. Not to mention that this team needs to find away to win the final two games against the Seahawks, who are also 8-7, and then finally, the Ravens, who are the number one seed in the AFC.
Only a few short weeks ago, these games looked winnable, or at least one of them did. Now, with Kenny Pickett coming back from injury and Mason Rudolph having been the best quarterback of the Steelers season by a long margin in the win against the Bengals, If it were up to me, I would run with the “Hot Hand” and start Mason. At this point, you have nothing to lose and only a playoff berth to gain! Let Kenny sit another week and be 100% healthy, and let’s see what Mason can do against the Seahawks this Sunday.
2024 NHL Draft Eligible Players to Watch at the WJC
GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN – DECEMBER 25: USA’s Zeev Buium #28 – 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship at Frolundaborg on December 25, 2023 in Gothenburg, Sweden. (Photo by Chris Tanouye/IIHF)
With all the hustle and bustle of Christmas now behind us, if you find yourself not knowing what to do with some much-needed time off, I would suggest tunning into the NHL Network to watch the IIHF’s World Junior Championship U20 Tournament that is currently taking place in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is here where some of the most talented prospects in the game today from countries all around the globe commonly come together to see which nation will be able to skate away with the bragging rights and the hardware (Gold Medal) after winning it all.
To help you further enjoy these contests, in this article, I will break down some of the top 2024 NHL Draft Eligible Players available on each team. In this tournament, teams tend to fill their rosters with their country’s best players who are currently under the age of 21. This means that many of the prospects that you’ll find yourself enamored by have already been drafted by an NHL club and, therefore, are just fine-tuning some points to their games before signing their entry-level contracts. But this is not the case for all players involved. On every team’s roster, there are a few un-drafted players who were skilled enough to find a way to make it through their country’s final rounds of cuts to play in this tournament. So, let’s take a look.
Team USA
One of the favorites this year has to be Team USA, and for good reason: 21 of the 23 players on their roster have already been drafted by NHL Clubs. Many of them were good enough to be selected in the first or second round of their respected draft classes, such as Cutter Gauthier, Will Smith, Ryan Leonard, Gabe Perreault, Lane Hutson, Seamus Casey, and Frank Nazar, to name a few. But, despite the Red, White, and Blue having all these future NHL stars playing for them right now, there is still one undrafted player in their lineup whose play is already on par or better than his already claimed counterparts.
Zeev Buium
That player is Zeev Buium, the 6’0, 183-pound left-hand shot defender who is just 18 years old, that you can typically find playing in the NCAA for the University of Denver. While Buium was respected for his work with the U.S. National Development Program in previous years, no one expected that Zeev would come out this season and make the collegiate ranks look like child’s play. What do I mean by that? Well, in just his first year of college hockey, Buium has been able to score five goals and 20 assists for a total of 25 points in only 18 games played for the Pioneers thus far. It is this 1.38 point-per-game pace as a defenseman, mind you, that has allowed Zeev to see his name vault up the mock drafts as of late to the point where some even have him potentially being taken by a lottery team this summer.
So far in this tournament, Buium has scored just one goal and one assist in two games played, but look for his point totals to continue to climb as he gets more comfortable playing with his new teammates.
Team Canada
Now, as good as the USA looks, it would not be the WJC if we did not talk about the perennial favorites Team Canada. Like America, Canada’s roster is filled with talent that NHL clubs have previously drafted in prior drafts, but there are some names that you’ll most certainly see called this upcoming summer as well.
The easiest to pick out would be Macklin Celebrini, who not only leads the entire tournament in points right now but is all but typed in already as being the first overall draft pick taken in the 2024 draft. So, let’s pick another name you should look out for.
How about…
Mathis Rousseau
Mathis is a 19-year-old goaltender who can be found most nights in net for the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). Rousseau, who is only 5’11 and 172 pounds, has astounded many this year with his play, so much so that he has managed to beat out fellow Canadian goalie Scott Razlaff, who was taken by the Buffalo Sabers last summer for Canada’s starting job. In two games played thus far in this tournament, Mathis has been able to post two victories and maintain an impressive 1.00 goals against average (G.A.A.) and a .958 save percentage (SV%).
As far as what got him the privilege to try out for Team Canada, Rousseau had to post a 2.07 G.A.A. and a .934 SV% through 21 games with the Mooseheads. But what might have given him the edge over others is the fact that if needed, he can evidently be counted on to provide some goal-scoring depth, as he proved capable of doing just that in a game a few months back against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.
Team Finland
Having already been handed an unexpected 4-3 loss to Germany earlier in this tournament, Finland will obviously be looking to rebound quickly. And to do that, they might have to rely on one of their promising undrafted prospects.
Konsta Helenius
And for me, while they have a few to choose from in that regard, I think the player they will be counting on the most throughout the rest of this tournament will be Konsta Helenius. The consensus on this 17-year-old forward, who already finds himself competing in his country’s highest professional league, the Liiga, is that he has the type of talent that will see him selected as one of the top ten players in the 2024 draft class. With that being said, I would have to agree. From an early age, Konsta has proved that he can hang while playing with older players. No other example of this would be more evident than this year while playing in the Liiga, where through 28 games playing for Jukurit, he has been able to tally eight goals and twelve assists for 20 points.
But while that success has not yet translated in this tournament as Helenius has been held scoreless through two games played (when last year he was averaging well over a point per game in both the WJC-U17 and U18 competitions), look for him to step up and will his country to a couple of victories in the coming days.
Team Sweden
Another strong team in this tournament, as always, is Sweden. Like Canada and Team USA, Sweden’s roster is full of players who already find themselves residing in NHL systems.
Hugo Havelid
But perhaps the player whose name surprises me the most that does not find his name on that list is goalie Hugo Havelid.
Hugo is a netminder who I had a team certainly taking at some point this past summer because of his phenomenal play. But sadly, that wasn’t the case. My guess as to why that didn’t happen would have to be his height. Havelid stands at just 5’10 tall but manages to circumvent any shortcoming (pun intended) by shooting out of the crease to challenge the shooter.
And while he has not yet managed to play a game in the SHL (Sweden’s top professional league), he did manage to not only secure the crease in Sweden’s first game against Latvia, over both Melker Thelin and Kevin Reidler, who were lucky enough to be drafted by an NHL team already but also earned himself a shutout for his efforts in the team’s 6-0 victory as well.
While I don’t expect Hugo to get the majority of the starts, moving forward, if he somehow can continue to make the most out of the starts that he does receive in this tournament, you can expect an NHL team to call his name come draft day this summer.
Team Czechia
Well, while this country may have gone through a lot of changes over the years, especially involving its name- Czechoslovakia, the Czech Republic, to now being known as Czechia, one thing that hasn’t changed is that prospects born in this country can flat out play.
And while defenseman Adam Jiricek should have been the talk of the town for Czechia this year at the world juniors, the knee injury he sustained in their first game against Slovakia has left Czechia desperate for someone to step up and help lead in his absence.
Dominik Rymon
For me, that player should be Dominik Rymon. This 19-year-old undrafted forward possesses the kind of quick stick work that allows him to collect points in bunches. If you need proof of this, look no further than what he has been able to do this year while playing for the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League. Through 32 games played thus far, Dominik has been able to score 18 goals and 25 assists for 43 points. Rymon is quick to rush to a puck, and once he has retrieved it, he makes sure that it doesn’t stay on his stick blade for long because it doesn’t matter where he is on the ice; Rymon is going to let it fly.
Besides his scoring ability (which he has used to average a points-per-game so far in this tournament), NHL clubs are also sure to be captivated by his defensibility as well, seeing that he is currently ranked among the WHL’s league leaders in plus-minus with an average of +19.
Any and all of these undrafted prospects could potentially earn themselves the honor of being drafted by an NHL club this summer simply by having a good showing at this tournament. For although it is just a week or two long, it is held in high regard because it is one of the only places where all the best and brightest prospects from around the world can come together to face off against each other. So, if you can prove to the masses that you can play well on this stage, the sky is the limit.