I really don't think Drysdale plays any part of it, things happen and depth is always needed, but patience is key when looking for the best or right deal.
- Glak18

by all means wait for the right deal but I think the need is greater due to Zam and the need for all D to play, except Staal

It seems like he would have found himself tangled up in negotiations which he did not want to have. One side did not want to let go, and would not accept no. That side wasn't him.

If he was so immature, entitled etc, it would show up in other aspects of his professional performance. One franchise would not have bent over backwards to attain him, and given back something pretty close to his value.

I am sorry, we have a different take on this. As more comes out, I see absolutely nothing unprofessional or immature about this kid's behavior. Just hardassed negotiations.

On the contrary, actually. While going through this in complete secrecy, he won WJC best forward. He can handle pressure. That will be what other bidders for his services will take away from this.
- PT21

Looky, looky, we may actually agree on something. If you live long enough….

The previous thread put the amount much higher. I am not saying I know what the number is but lots of people make decisions based on compensation. There is a big trust issue in there too. Given how short their period of productivity can be, I don’t fault any professional athlete for emphasizing the importance of their compensation.
- iamscore2day

This kind of thing happens all the time. A young players gets to training camp to try and compete for a spot, and the team decides to send him back to juniors. He can keep his signing bonus, which right now is a max of about 95K, but he's not going to get his base salary. A young player who is AHL eligible comes to camp to compete for a spot and gets sent down to the AHL. He's then making about 65K instead of the 800K or whatever that he would make in the NHL. Teams make decisions that effect player compensation all the time. The player has to earn his money.

Agree 100% My understanding is Fletcher got fired March 10, 2023 and Boston College ended their season March 11, 2023. Gauthier wanted to be signed right after his season ended and start his ELC last year. The Flyers asked to wait until the season ended and then they would sign him and Gauthier would be able to play for the Flyers this season. Jones started on May 10th as POHO. Soon after they met with Gauthier expecting that he would be ready to sign a contract and join the team this year. That is when Gauthier shared with Briere that decided to take his marbles and go home. The kid and his family cost themselves millions, all over something so simple as this. If this doesn't cause red flags about the character of this kid, I don't know what will.
- jd250

assuming as we don't know what it was over, lots of speculation

But what if he wasn’t ready to be a professional player? What if the Flyers determined he needed more amature experience? Of course none of know the answers but this whole thing makes him look bad.
- mikeyo27

That is all legit to me. Just say it if it went down that way and that the kid did not like their assessment. I would have no problem with that and say that we were saving our money and helping to develop an asset as we thought best. Since that is not what we said, they have left a lot of room for various inferences.

Why don't we see a lot of players not signing with the team that drafted them and telling them they want to be traded?

They did not cost him a lot of money. Gauthier by his decision cost himself potentially millions.
- MJL

just takes one to open up that door.

you been pounding the keyboards all week. Have you showered?

Agree 100% My understanding is Fletcher got fired March 10, 2023 and Boston College ended their season March 11, 2023. Gauthier wanted to be signed right after his season ended and start his ELC last year. The Flyers asked to wait until the season ended and then they would sign him and Gauthier would be able to play for the Flyers this season. Jones started on May 10th as POHO. Soon after they met with Gauthier expecting that he would be ready to sign a contract and join the team this year. That is when Gauthier shared with Briere that decided to take his marbles and go home. The kid and his family cost themselves millions, all over something so simple as this. If this doesn't cause red flags about the character of this kid, I don't know what will.
- jd250

I believe Gauthier's BU season ended on April 6th last year. The Flyers had about 4 games left in their season at that point. The Flyers met with Gauthier in May of 2023 at the World Championships. The Flyers went there expecting to sign him to a contract agreement. That's when Gauthier told them he didn't want to play for them. The Flyers were shocked.

Expect considerable shuffling of wingers beyond the first line. But it looks like they'll start this way at the beginning of the game:

86 Joel Farabee - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
74 Owen Tippett - 48 Morgan Frost - 89 Cam Atkinson
71 Tyson Foerster - 21 Scott Laughton - 19 Garnet Hathaway
xxxxxx (rotation) - 25 Ryan Poehling - 10 Bobby Brink

6 Travis Sanheim - 9 Jamie Drysdale
8 Cam York - 26 Sean Walker
24 Nick Seeler/ 5 Egor Zamula - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen

33 Samuel Ersson

- bmeltzer[79 Carter Hart]

They need to trade Seeler or Walker soon. 11 forwards is a terrible idea. Torts is literally trying to kill Coots and TK.

Looky, looky, we may actually agree on something. If you live long enough….
- iamscore2day

I have been quietly looky lookying, and marveling.

Just survived a cancer scare, so there is still theoretical hope for my immortality.

He had, by the Flyers own admission, clearly stated he did not want to be a Flyer. That is the same thing.

The Flyers did not accept that message. They wanted to know why. None of their business why. They pestered him by sending high profile players directly to him, instead of to their agent, who was almost certainly handling all his communications and who was extremely unlikely to be in attendance at a random BC game.

The longer this goes on, the more things drag. What if I do this? What if I offer you that?

It is like breaking up with an ex. However unintuitive it is, once your decision is final, a break is a break and the best way to implement it is by a complete and total separation of communication.
- PT21

According to Jones, he made up his mind before Jones even took the job. So I have no problem with the new administration trying to see if they could change his mind. Gauthier absolutely owed the new administration a reason why.

It seems like he would have found himself tangled up in negotiations which he did not want to have. One side did not want to let go, and would not accept no. That side wasn't him.

If he was so immature, entitled etc, it would show up in other aspects of his professional performance. One franchise would not have bent over backwards to attain him, and given back something pretty close to his value.

I am sorry, we have a different take on this. As more comes out, I see absolutely nothing unprofessional or immature about this kid's behavior. Just hardassed negotiations.

On the contrary, actually. While going through this in complete secrecy, he won WJC best forward. He can handle pressure. That will be what other bidders for his services will take away from this.
- PT21

What would the Flyers have done? Hold him at gunpoint and tell him that he had to negotiate a contract with them?

NHL teams overlook personal issues for talent all the time. They figure one teams loss is their gain. By reports, Verbeek tried to trade up in the draft to pick Gauthier. He has coveted him as a player for a while.
There was no hard ass negotiations. He refused to negotiate after the Flyers exercised their right not to sign him to an ELC at the end of the 22/23 season.

As the stories evolve it certainly seems to be the case that this was temper tantrum because for whatever reason, the Flyers didn’t want to sign him to an ELC last Spring. I don’t have such a huge problem with the kid and his family changing their collective mind and not wanting to come to Philadelphia, this stuff happens for many many reasons. My problem is that he apparently ghosted the Flyers and took an immature approach instead of being a young professional. It certainly shows he’s not a man (yet) mentally or emotionally but still a boy. What he should have done is man up and tell the Flyers what his position is and why. The Flyers could then plan accordingly with certainty and at least have the dignity of knowing. I’ve changed my tune about GMDB lying to the fans after prospect camp, clearly this was to protect the Flyers asset management at the time in an unknown circumstance. I imagine the last straw was when That’s now in the past and the Flyers scored big time with Drysdale.
- mikeyo27

I believe he did after the World Championship and before the draft. They decided to"protect" the assett and hope he changes his mind.

Briere and Jones went halfway across the world to talk with the kid and he wasn’t even man enough to meet with them or take their call.
- mikeyo27

Is that really his issue? If he has told them back in May that he will not sign, and wants to be moved, and they CHOSE to fly to Sweden hoping for a better response than the previous 8 months.....almost sounds like an excuse. Why expect any different response than the one they had received for 8 months, just because they are in Sweden. Did he ask them to come? Confirm a meeting? No, I don't believe he did.

They knew getting off that plane in Sweden he wanted nothing to do with them.

This kind of thing happens all the time. A young players gets to training camp to try and compete for a spot, and the team decides to send him back to juniors. He can keep his signing bonus, which right now is a max of about 95K, but he's not going to get his base salary. A young player who is AHL eligible comes to camp to compete for a spot and gets sent down to the AHL. He's then making about 65K instead of the 800K or whatever that he would make in the NHL. Teams make decisions that effect player compensation all the time. The player has to earn his money.
- MJL

didnt aneheim jerk drysdale around too? i thought i heard that on chicklets. something about him coming back from injury and was healthy, but the team delayed his return. he could have qualed for arbitration a year early if the ducks allowed him to come back from last yrs injury. it would be funny if cutter was irked by the flyers for preventing him from playing when the ducks kinda did the same to drysdale. good luck with verbeek in ca

The Flyers didn't go to Sweden to know why. They went hoping they could work things out with the player and get him signed.

They didn't send high profile players to him. That's a mischaracterization. They sent employees and representatives of the Flyers to talk to the player that they hold the draft right to. Well within their purview.

You're trying to make it sound like it was some master stroke of strategy that obtained his objective. It wasn't. It was unprofessional and he could've gotten the same result by being respectful and meeting with the Flyers.

You want to talk about it being a business but ignore that it was well within the Flyers rights to pursue and engage with the player that they own the draft rights to.
- MJL

One last time.

1. There was nothing to discuss. He had made his decision. He had conveyed his decision.

2. There was nothing to be gained by entertaining claims for his time from someone who wanted to change a decision already made.

3. Whether that someone had a right to try and persuade him is besides the point.

4. Under the circumstances, the way to handle this was by a polite and sustained avoidance, to continuously underline point 1 above. This is what you saw.

You may be right but there are other folks who analyze it differently. With a father who was a pro athlete in hockey, I would think that is wrong but other athletes have gotten the math wrong. But I don’t agree that a player making a decision based on financial considerations is being “childish” unless the financial analysis is so plainly wrong that it looks like a pretext. The Flyers’ response makes me suspicious because they are taking the position that they did not know when his reasons may have been expressed very clearly. Time will tell.
- iamscore2day

He has an agent that is more than capable of giving him the math.

Again, I'd ask why we rarely see a player make this kind of move and refuse to sign with the team that drafted them?

didnt aneheim jerk drysdale around too? i thought i heard that on chicklets. something about him coming back from injury and was healthy, but the team delayed his return. he could have qualed for arbitration a year early if the ducks allowed him to come back from last yrs injury. it would be funny if cutter was irked by the flyers for preventing him from playing when the ducks kinda did the same to drysdale. good luck with verbeek in ca
- 26912 PP1

Verbeek by all accounts is a nasty negotiator and the next coach for Anaheim will like be a disciplinarian in the mold of Torts if they keep losing.

didnt aneheim jerk drysdale around too? i thought i heard that on chicklets. something about him coming back from injury and was healthy, but the team delayed his return. he could have qualed for arbitration a year early if the ducks allowed him to come back from last yrs injury. it would be funny if cutter was irked by the flyers for preventing him from playing when the ducks kinda did the same to drysdale. good luck with verbeek in ca
- 26912 PP1

Yeah. That bridge contract seems a little low in AAV for his potential. It factored in his injury.

And according to Dozer10, who is a knowledgeable guy and ducks fan, Verbeek forced Drsydale to report to camp before he was ready, which led to a groin injury, which often happens if someone plays before getting into game shape.

I have been quietly looky lookying, and marveling.

Just survived a cancer scare, so there is still theoretical hope for my immortality.
- PT21

Oh, that sounds scary. Great job on beating that. Will add you to my prayers.

One last time.

1. There was nothing to discuss. He had made his decision. He had conveyed his decision.


- PT21

Incorrect. There are two sides here and the Flyers own his draft rights. They have a right to try and work things out with the player.

2. There was nothing to be gained by entertaining claims for his time from someone who wanted to change a decision already made.


- PT21

Also incorrect. What he had to gain was the potential of making 3+ million this season playing for the Flyers and getting his NHL career started. Also means getting to UFA status earlier in his career. Leading to potentially even more money earned.

3. Whether that someone had a right to try and persuade him is besides the point.


- PT21

Badly contradicting yourself. You want to talk like it has nothing to do with morality or anything like that and that it is business. Yet you refuse to acknowledge that the Flyers have a business right to try and negotiate with a player that they have draft rights to. Or you now claim that it's besides the point when it doesn't fit your premise.

4. Under the circumstances, the way to handle this was by a polite and sustained avoidance, to continuously underline point 1 above. This is what you saw.
- PT21

Completely disagree. The way to handle it was to respectfully meet. Maintain your integrity and politely reiterate that you're still not interested. Instead of ghosting the Flyers.

One last time.

1. There was nothing to discuss. He had made his decision. He had conveyed his decision.

2. There was nothing to be gained by entertaining claims for his time from someone who wanted to change a decision already made.

3. Whether that someone had a right to try and persuade him is besides the point.

4. Under the circumstances, the way to handle this was by a polite and sustained avoidance, to continuously underline point 1 above. This is what you saw.
- PT21

This isn’t turning down a job at Walmart. This is undermining the draft system by using a loophole. The reason that the rest of the league kept this quiet for the Flyers is because of how terrible for the league this would be if other high end draft prospects did this. Other GMs could have stole him for nearly nothing if they leaked it to the press and yet 18-20 kept their mouth shut. Why would they hurt their team if this wasn’t a gigantic crap move.

He has an agent that is more than capable of giving him the math.

Again, I'd ask why we rarely see a player make this kind of move and refuse to sign with the team that drafted them?
- MJL

It happens in other sports all of the time. The “this is rare” is not the same as “this is wrong/childish/stupid” and you need to be mindful of that. I don’t really know about the economics of this but I am not ready to throw this kid under the bus yet.

Yeah. That bridge contract seems a little low in AAV for his potential. It factored in his injury.

And according to Dozer10, who is a knowledgeable guy and ducks fan, Verbeek forced Drsydale to report to camp before he was ready, which led to a groin injury, which often happens if someone plays before getting into game shape.
- PT21

Using the same level of standard that you use in looking at the Gauthier situation. That it's a business. Did Verbeek violate any rules of the CBA in that situation with Drysdale?

Oh, that sounds scary. Great job on beating that. Will add you to my prayers.
- iamscore2day

During an endoscopy, they discovered a "nodule" in my esophagus. 99% of such nodules are malignant, and the prognosis for esophageal cancer is very poor.

It was a tough 10 days for the wife and me, waiting for the biopsy. But, I beat the odds.

Yay, me.

It happens in other sports all of the time. The “this is rare” is not the same as “this is wrong/childish/stupid” and you need to be mindful of that. I don’t really know about the economics of this but I am not ready to throw this kid under the bus yet.
- iamscore2day

Not talking about other sports. Talking about Hockey. Why do players feel an obligation to play for the team that drafted them? Why don't see many players saying they don't want to play for the team that drafted them and force a trade?

It's not about throwing him under the bus. Kids make mistakes and bad decisions all the time. Shouldn't condemn them for life. It's about looking at one incident and forming an opinion.

Incorrect. There are two sides here and the Flyers own his draft rights. They have a right to try and work things out with the player.




Also incorrect. What he had to gain was the potential of making 3+ million this season playing for the Flyers and getting his NHL career started. Also means getting to UFA status earlier in his career. Leading to potentially even more money earned.



Badly contradicting yourself. You want to talk like it has nothing to do with morality or anything like that and that it is business. Yet you refuse to acknowledge that the Flyers have a business right to try and negotiate with a player that they have draft rights to. Or you now claim that it's besides the point when it doesn't fit your premise.



Completely disagree. The way to handle it was to respectfully meet. Maintain your integrity and politely reiterate that you're still not interested. Instead of ghosting the Flyers.
- MJL

But if you have already conveyed your decision, and they keep harrassing you..it's like the girlfriend you already told you want to break up and why, yet she still calls all the time to find out why, to try and fix it and give a chance...