ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - One of the weirder situations in the hockey world right now is the situation regarding the Philadelphia Flyers and their now-former top draft pick Cutter Gauthier.
For those who are unaware, the Flyers recently traded away Gauthier's rights, who was their top draft in the 2022 NHL Draft, selected fifth overall, to the Anaheim Ducks for a 2025 second round pick and defenseman Jamie Drysdale Monday.
At first, doesn't look like there's a situation whatsoever, until reports came out that Gauthier flat out refused to play for the Flyers, ghosting and unwilling to talk to team representatives since May 2023. Theories for his refusal include his childhood fandom for Flyers rivals the Pittsburgh Penguins. Another theory included one Blues player.
Gauthier has cited Blues forward Kevin Hayes as a very close friend in interviews, and theories swirled on social media Monday that Hayes might've been the reason why Gauthier refused to play for the Flyers. Flyers President Keith Jones and General Manager Daniel Briere say they were personally told by Hayes that wasn't true.
Hayes discussed the rumors for the first time publicly Tuesday during the team's morning skate Tuesday as the Blues are set to play the Florida Panthers, calling the rumors he was a factor for why Gauthier refused to play for the Flyers "100 percent false."
“Yeah, I think it’s complete bulls..., honestly." Hayes told reporters Tuesday. "I think those two guys acted like compete pieces of s..., to be honest, making s... up. Now, I’m going to bed and waking up with death threats and people want my family dead, and people that are happy that my brother’s dead. I think it’s completely insane that this guy can say something like that."
Hayes says he laughed when he first heard the rumors that he was a factor for why Gauthier refused to play for the Flyers.
"Who the f... am I to have influence on if a kid plays for an NHL team or not?" said Hayes. "I don’t have that influence."
Hayes also called out Philadelphia Flyers writer Anthony SanFilippo for his comments regarding the situation with SanFilippo claiming that the Gautier situation had "Kevin Hayes fingerprints all over it."
"I think whatever info that guy got, he should fact check it. You can ask Cutter about it, you can ask that idiot reporter if he wants to ask me questions about it. I’ll answer any questions he has."