Dissecting the Flyers' drama between Cutter Gauthier, Kevin Hayes, John Tortorella, and a reporter

The Philadelphia Flyers traded prospect Cutter Gauthier to the Anaheim Ducks this week, and it later came out that there was a little more drama behind the scenes. When a reporter shared out an unsubstantiated report that Kevin Hayes was involved in convincing Gauthier to force his way out, John Tortorella didn't take to kindly to it. Gino Reda discusses the dramatic media conference from the fiery Flyers bench boss.

[@thegoods2240]

Says a lot about Torts, that he'll back his players, and even ex-players, when they deserve to be backed. At the same time, he has no problem calling people out, when they deserve to be called out.

[@moimolina7919]

All my respect for Torts. He just ripped a new one into Anthony SanFilippo.

[@robertmclean2812]

Reporters make up shit all the time if they dislike a player. That's why most players give "canned" answers with no substance. Reporters who don't understand the game twist things to make a story. There are only a handful of credible media guys.

[@DeezNuuuhtz]

Just like how the second Drysdale was traded a bunch of "insiders" who didn't even get a whiff or mention Gauthier's name as even available or even a murmur of Drysdale being traded, suddenly heard Zegras was now available. No they didn't, they are throwing shit at the wall because they don't have sources in Anaheim.

[@BigJim5754]

Ducks fan here, can't wait for Cutter to get to the club but he needs to say why he did this, even if its a lie he has to say something. Family thing? great, what is the family thing. Gotta say it Cutter

[@mrbone009]

Who cares about Cutter. Drysdale is the real deal

[@DeezNuuuhtz]

Keep that energy when he gets hurt in 5 games 🤣

[@SurfinCowboy5615]

Lol, you never heard of him prior to Tuesday, watched him play one game, and you can now confidentially claim he’s the real deal. Hilarious how delusional Flyers fans are.

[@johnzywko5885]

You’ll see what the Flyers have just done…the team needed scorers to move this team forward in the future, and not another 5’10" player

[@DaEagles71024]

⁠@@SurfinCowboy5615and he’s done more in 1 game that Cut will never do…

[@AnaheimRob]

Drysdale is literally going to be a great player. Probably franchise caliber... Cutter has all the tools to be as well. Massive talent and really doesn't seem like a jerk. Something went on the fan base doesn't know. Don't dis the kid too much. He could have left Philly high and dry and not tell them he didn't want to be in the organization up to the end of his eligibility, leaving the Flyers with a second round compensation pick. That didn't happen. You got Drysdale and he is definitely the equivalent in overall potential if he stays healthy.

[@joed6067]

Media members keep misrepresenting what the reporter said. He reported that a source within the organization said it has Hayes fingerprints all over it. He didn’t say it a team employee did.

[@scottfaulkner6250]

Good on Torts! Calling out the “reporter’s” source. No doubt his source was something on the internet because we all know how reliable the internet is 🙄 I’m a lifelong Bs fan and I’ve always disliked the Flyers but with Jonesy, Dany B, and Torts running the show I’m going to start rooting for them (as long as they’re not playing the Bs) 😄

[@JamesK1963]

I hate to stir the pot...But do we really know for sure Hayes didn't have any influence over this? Lots of people do things and then deny it. Hockey players are no different.

[@FlyersinHD]

The reporter in question has cited multiple sources within the organization in his article on this, plus he has decades long track record of breaking news while on the Flyers beat. And I agree with you on the latter half of the statement, it's easy to take the denials at face value and move on to attack the guy who had the report and just claim he "made it up" which seems to have been the case here. People seem to just be citing the clip from the podcast as Gino does here, (which did cite a source within the organization) and not the actual article that was written about the situation. Which is just odd and lazy within it self

[@bartalgozzini7262]

Hayes would deny it up and down. I think he might have made some comments to cutter about what happened in Philly and might have played a factor into not wanting to play here.

[@acheesylasagna8636]

What's Hayes gonna say? Yea I had an influence? Lol come on

[@JamesK1963]

@@bartalgozzini7262 I agree. If Hayes did talk to him, there is no way he’d admit it.

[@MrBigtime2]

​@@FlyersinHDThey don't want people reading the facts on this one. You're bang on

[@theKid87]

Gotta give Torts props for calling that reporter out. He speaks his mind like it or not. I'm sure you could make a great team out of all the players who'd never want to play for him though.

[@winkletown8828]

Kids these days are too weak and fragile to be held accountable. This generation is coddled, pampered and given participation trophies and it shows. Everyone given the opportunity to be coached by Torts should be honored and take advantage of it. Love him or hate him, he's one of the best ever.

[@chrisolivo6591]

Being a lifelong Philly sports fan, sports talk radio is the real media and they control the narrative. All the old school reporters like Ray Didinger, Phil Jasner and Stan Hochman have been replaced by people like Anthony SanFillipo. I watched his podcast that night and it was embarrassing as he had another reporter and former Flyer Chris Therien. Instead of acting like a media member they were acting like fans and getting emotional to the point of hysterics. For SanFillipo to say Hayes ‘finger prints’ were all over this was utterly ridiculous. All the Flyers media are friends with Keith Jones so they all had to spin it that it was 100% Gauthier’s fault. I never heard one media member criticize the Flyers brass and ask, “How did you let a major prospect get away like this? Was it because you didn’t sign him from College last year? Was it because the organization has been a joke for the past decade?” Instead it was all out assault on Gauthier by the Flyers management and the media. And we wonder why we haven’t won a cup in 50 years?

[@FF-fh5cv]

I cannot wait for when Gauthier plays in Philly.

[@austriangroyper9308]

"I've received death threats" is the easiest way to deflect criticism. People receive death threats online for literally anything. It is a part of the internet.

[@56NYGIANTSFAN]

Torts baby. Whatta man...whatta coach. Im glad he's on our side.

[@skyborne80]

You want to hate on someone for not wanting to play for your team and anyone else who's "fingers might be all over it," fine, but death threats are ludicrous. It's a bleeping game for pete's sakes!

[@jmarx3943]

Agreed. As a flyers fan, I was disappointed that cutter didn't want to play here, but it happens. He's going to be a beast for Anaheim. Anyone who said the things that Hayes said he saw.....they deserve a punch in the mouth. Absolutely disgraceful, and I'm sick of hearing about crap like that. Boo the kid when he comes here, but anything other than that is too much.

[@austriangroyper9308]

Death threats arent a big deal on the internet. People get death threats for anything and everything online. None of them are credible. Gauthier and Hayes coming out about death threats is just to get people to stop criticizing them.

[@snapjackal]

Bro someone has told me they were going to kill me for going the speed limit in a neighborhood. People are just insane right now.

[@AnthW1970]

Good JOB!!

[@royanderson3478]

Who is reporter or Podcaster,?

[@Kohl-vi4rg]

Torts didn’t cause death threats. He said Hayes wouldn’t have done that. Also Hayes taking him out when he was drafted doesn’t mean Hayes didn’t say differently to the coward kid months later

[@AnaheimRob]

Some Philly fans will never let this go. Whatever. They got an equivalent player talent-wise in Drysdale. The Ducks have a wealth of talented D-prospects ready to go and amazing young forwards. Cutter is going to thrive in Anaheim and if he lives up to his potential, watch out!

[@whobilly1]

Possibly he saw Comcast as the WOKE organization they are and didn't want to be part of their cancel culture?

[@Zilzalag]

Why would or should be let this go?

[@MrViyasan]

If the allegations are untrue, where is the lawsuit?

[@robertwells6724]

Why do reporters have the right to report without facts?

[@shellysmith1037]

the only 'drama' is from hockey pundits and media dweebs. Just flinging around falsehoods and supposition rather than any accurate journalism

[@burnz0021]

I love Torts I'd play for him any day!

[@_dev_null_]

Bravo to Torts. That is what a real man does.

[@BRIANDER100]

WHO WAS THE REPORTER ?

[@jmarx3943]

Anthony Sanfilippo

[@math3342]

Cutter Gauthier started everything.

[@AnaheimRob]

Sometimes players don't want to play where they are drafted. This has happened to the Ducks twice the past decade. No hard feelings. Life goes on.

[@SpergerKing]

he's a diva with delusions of grandeur. dodged a bullet.

[@AnaheimRob]

@@SpergerKing OK, have yet to see where he has ever acted like a diva, but whatever.

[@SpergerKing]

@@AnaheimRobThe kid threw a year and a half long temper tantrum and snubbed Danny Briere, Keith Jones, John LeClair, and Patrick Sharp amd he's yet to even play an NHL game. He better check his attitude and play like hot sh!t in a champagne glass for the Ducks because Verbeek gave up a #6 pick and a 2nd round pick for a guy Danny Briere couldn't sign or even communicate with.

[@AnaheimRob]

@@SpergerKing So, if something goes down at work and you no longer what to work for that company , you are throwing a temper tantrum? Doubt it. I can see if Gauthier was out in the media every other day the verbally dissing the Flyers organization and mouthing off, but he wasn't. Quite the opposite. That's not a tantrum and yes, most can see why Flyers fans are upset but you guys got an exact equivalent player as far as potential is concerned but on the defensive end in return. Drysdale is such a good skater and has such good vision it will be difficult for him to fail. This was a total win for the Flyers who need a future top line D-man who can quarterback the power play. The Ducks have an amazing amount of extremely talented D-prospects but still needed young high end forward depth. Gauthier helped that....a lot. Now, if he did all this last minute as Justin Schults did with the Ducks a while back where they got absolutely nothing in return for him then maybe I can see some of the venom but as it stand you guys got a future all start and a second round pick. I think Philly made out pretty good.

[@jlove8445]

Philly fans choppin cutter to bits

[@winkletown8828]

Not just Philly fans. Quitter Gauthier is a real trash act. Told the team he was excited and wanted to play for them, then pulls the biggest bitch move in modern times and won't even talk to anyone in the franchise 🤷 I hope this douchebag never becomes anything more than a bust. The entire league should be headhunting this bum too. 80s and 90s style. Make an example out of him. Send the message to every kid out there "if you lie to the team that drafts you, you're not going to have a career here" Send out the enforcers every time this punk hits the ice and make him suffer.

[@AnaheimRob]

People vent but time to let it go. Philly wasn't left high and dry or with a lesser quality player; they got Drysdale. He's going to be an elite level top paring D-man.

[@stevebabiak6997]

@@AnaheimRob - you people in LA don’t understand the Philly fan mindset. Every time an athlete in any sport, who dissed the Philly team, came into Philly to play, the fans would at best make that player feel unwelcome with verbal abuse; some fans would even toss things …

[@Hi_Scoops]

Name a job that is more useless than a sport analyst? Even an OF offers some value to someone.

[@JamesK1963]

Lots of folks in Hollywood could quit tomorrow and nobody would notice.

[@jakebenigni]

good for torts. that being said, i dont care what lie some dumb podcaster says anyone giving death threats about a game seriously needs hlep.

[@math3342]

Torts calling the sources bullshit...How does Torts know that the sources are BS?

[@LouieKaboom]

Uhhh... because he works there.

[@RoughRaiders13]

I honestly don't like torts much but this was a class move.

[@Andyyy48]

death threats are so stupid, hockey is just game and reporters telling bs stories is just so awful😬

[@JamesK1963]

We don't know who to believe. Maybe Hayes did influence Cutter. Maybe they're both denying it. Maybe Hayes is lying about the death threats.

[@Andyyy48]

It doesnt matter, anything what happened still dont justify to death threats @@JamesK1963

[@jerkotarade117]

Its only game, why you heff to be med

[@Andyyy48]

😁@@jerkotarade117

[@maryteufel1789]

Good for the coach sticking up for the players. He speaks his mind. If the kid didn't want to play here than it's good that he is gone.

[@nintendoconvert4045]

Let’s remember only a select few idiots would attack Hayes over this, even if it was true. It’s just asinine and distasteful.

[@billyhill988]

This is just a repeat of yesterday’s reported news…smh

[@MrTherater1]

Great, now Anaheim is gonna be a dynasty now if they can figure out how to afford all these players thats another story

[@napualani227]

look at how injury prone their team is lol. need to trade away zegras & get solid dmen before you can talk about them being a dynasty

[@Westside33423]

Leave it alone TSN. Who cares

[@jimclark7917]

Way to go Torts!

[@funghoul9124]

who was the reporter?

[@nikramirez5461]

Damn right TORTS

[@josephgrosso8731]

Respect for Torts. Hayes did nothing. Gauthier is a wimp.

[@Josenio]

Torts is just taking the high road here, dude. Of COURSE Hayes said something. And it's not even a knock against him at the end of the day. He's allowed to say whatever he wants to whomever he wants. But come on...like if you had a bad falling-out at work and got fired or quit because of it, you'd tell everyone you know. If Hayes is tight with Cutter, there is a 100% chance he talked about his experience and his side of the story. Not rocket science

[@AnaheimRob]

How is he a wimp? By being the most dominant player at worlds doing more than his part to help win gold? Why are Philly fans so whiney when they got a player with such massive upside as Drysdale. Philly has the worst or one of the worst power plays in the NHL...that will change with Drysdale. There are reason why Cutter soured on Philly. Management isn't giving the whole story. Move on.

[@trh6143]

I also think if the kid would have been honest and gave a real answer, there would be no rumours or speculation.

[@tallesttreeintheforest]

next global series will be in one of the pyramids in egypt.. they are going to carve out the inside have build a indoor rink INSIDE OF THE PYRAMID.

[@oilerssixpack2629]

Just another spin by Gino to stir the shit up another media embarrassment

[@bluepit2021]

If you’re Kevin Hayes & you’re not fitting in Torts system & torts calls you out publicly & benches you, the team was bad, fans weren’t showing up & then cutter asked hayes what’s it like to play in Philly under torts ? Most likely Hayes gave him his honest opinion & moved on having no idea what cutter was going to do, that’s the most likely scenario.

[@Doctorboster]

Quitter Gauthier

[@denisjl100]

he's not a quitter, he had a difference of opinion with his coach and was man enough to voice it. just because he refused to play for YOUR team doesn't make him a quitter. grow up.

[@potassium22nd]

@@denisjl100 Yeah but he didnt give that coach a chance. How would he have known what torts would be to him? This is where i disagree with those saying he has that right to move on from the team that drafted him, even if it is true it should be an honor regardless of what team drafted you. We still don't know the full reason i mean even the ducks podcast interviewed Gauthier and they didnt even brought up the question however his agent says its a personal reason. Gauthier and his camp ghosted the flyers and didnt give them the full reason why he basically gave up on them.

[@neilm2794]

@@user-yn1dc9nw3z I haven't seen a prospect yet who is unaware that there is a draft. Did "Cutter" tell them during the draft process he wasn't going to play there? Nope, or they wouldn't have drafted him. The kid is a soft turd; let him go play with Mickey mouse in Anaheim.

[@Golfreak]

@@user-yn1dc9nw3z Because this is how professional sport works. Teams need to be able to draft and keep players for the parity. If all the players play where they want to play, the competitiveness would go away. But yeah the players have the right to play where ever they want to play. It's call free agency. After you play for the team that drafted you, you can go where ever the hell you want to go. Every single athlete know this when they decide to play to play professional sports. Gauthier is a fuck*n brat. Don't tell the team that drafted you that you want to play for them and then just change your mind without meeting up with team officials and let them know why. It's definition of a brat.

[@DeezNuuuhtz]

​​​@@potassium22ndCutter is a college player. He joins the long line of players with no obligation to play for the team that drafted them. Weird how nobody mentions this same exact thing happened to Anaheim literally last year. Flyers fans are just crybabies who can't understand why nobody would want to play for their neanderthal fans in their trash city of trash people. Henry Thrun, Blake Wheeler, Adam Fox, Justin Schultz, Kevin Hayes, Jimmy Vesey, Alex Kerfoot just off the top of my head have all done the same, and not a single one of them left the franchise that drafted them with even 1/10th the value that Cutter left the Flyers with.

[@user-bq4tc6zc3f]

That reporter is so proud it was him....whst a piece of crap...maybe fans shoukd be pissed at that podcast/rrporter instead.....way to go torts...enough of these nhl podcasts where they just hypothetically make up crap...

[@Hereatthebeach2018]

Snow the goalie podcast did this too but I get ut

[@VetGoalie76]

Am i wrong in saying...Who cares about some douchebag that doesn't want to play for the Flyers?! I am willing to bet his kid will never make an NHL roster. Props to Torts for supporting his players and former players regardless if he liked them or not against BS reporters and biased opinions.

[@bustindyfuglien]

Respect to torts

[@OvieSnips8]

There is no drama with Kevin Hayes lol. He didn't do anything in this lol.

[@user-wr3gf6tc2u]

Hayes was definitely. Involved in this. He is a real mouth piece

[@Mitch-ui8ps]

Obviously that’s why there’s such a defensive pushback for him, to cover up his ass cause everyone knows it was him involved

[@MrBigtime2]

You're exactly correct. He poo-talked Torts to Cutter and he's not claiming otherwise. Crying about anonymous threats is ridiculous and a shield of responsibility for actions and a PR attempt to shut the truth down fast

[@Josenio]

Exactly. Like he's allowed to say whatever he wants to whomever he wants, but if he is tight with Cutter (dumbest name ever, by the way lol), there's a 100% chance he trashed Torts and swayed his opinion. Torts also knows this, but he takes the massive W taking the high road here

[@Josenio]

Exactly. Like he's allowed to say whatever he wants to whomever he wants, but if he is tight with Cutter (dumbest name ever, by the way lol), there's a 100% chance he trashed Torts and swayed his opinion. Torts also knows this, but he takes the massive W taking the high road here

[@MrBigtime2]

@@Josenio Torts defending Hayes removes all negativity towards Torts! PR move 101!

[@thet3504]

Who cares

[@mrmorhouse]

Lol philly is trash. Torts is trash. Philly fans are even trashier than that bum team. Nit surprised the kid didnt want to play with those guys. Torts has been done for years. How does he still have a job ?

[@Woot_ST]

quitter is trash who cares we robbed the ducks

[@volodymyrzablotsky5372]

Wasn’t man enough to play in Philly! Hayes wasn’t man enough either if Torts could hurt her feelings

[@codyhertzler2387]

Hayes and his BC cliq influenced the decision clearly

[@robertholston4708]

Never forget Jimmy took the jab.

[@_totallynotscott]

is that what caused the drug overdose?

[@ricod18]

Cutter didn’t want to play in philly cause he grew up a penguins fan. Im sure there are a few baseball players who grew up a red sox fan would NEVER play for the yankees some people just never grow up. It’s childish however cutter hasn’t done anything for this organization yet so its not a loss

[@Benvyious]

Philly is a dump 😂 the fans are the worst in all sports. At the end of the day it’s just hockey it’s not the end of the world to send death threats to people. Just sad and confirms why cutter didn’t want to play there 😂

[@straightcashhomey1261]

How do you know it was Philly fans sending stuff?

[@AnaheimRob]

He's going to love OC. Mellow atmosphere with die hard fans that aren't vile or rabid.

[@asphaltcowboy7567]

You're a wacko

[@21sled]

@@AnaheimRoblmao sounds like a shit place to play with 0 passion.

[@iamalex4life]

Nobody wants to kill Kevin Hayes that is hilarious, i dont believe for a second he recieved any kind of threat

[@JamesK1963]

I'd like to see the evidence myself.

[@MES1331]

Wake up to the real world dude. Holy shit you’re naive or just ignorant.

[@danthomas3112]

Im a flyer fan from Boston. I love kevin but since he got involved with giroux an vorecheck he lost some of the edgieness he had in NY then when jimmy died he lost his heart to play the game. He should retire