The news is up again Cutter Gauthier’s trade was “long time coming,” according to Flyers general manager Danny Briere. This is the reason why….

CBS/AP, PHILADELPHIA — General manager Danny Briere said Monday night that the Philadelphia Flyers’ sale of Cutter Gauthier, a high-scoring collegiate left winger, to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a 2025 second-round selection pick, was a “long time coming.”

Because Gauthier refused to contract, train, or even interact with the Flyers, Briere claimed he traded Gauthier, the fifth overall pick in the 2022 NHL draft. When Briere and Flyers President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones traveled to Sweden last month to witness Gauthier lead the U.S. team to the gold medal at the just concluded World Junior Championship, Gauthier declined to meet with them.

Briere remarked, “It was a long time coming,” “It has been ongoing for some time. We made an effort to give him room. We made numerous attempts to contact him. He would not communicate … so at some point, we had to make a decision, and we thought with what happened just a few days ago, this was probably the time to get the highest value.”

Gauthier initially told the Flyers that he wouldn’t join them last summer, a year after they drafted him. Briere said he purposely didn’t announce Gauthier’s reluctance or comment publicly on his increasingly awkward relationship with Philly’s top prospect.

“It was to try to protect the kid,” Briere said. “We were hoping that at some point he would change his mind. He had already changed his mind. He looked at us at the draft and told us he was built to be a Flyer, wanted to be a Flyer, and then a few months later, told us that he didn’t want to be a Flyer, didn’t want to play for the Flyers.

“So in our mind at first, we said, ‘We have to protect him, because if he changes his mind again, it’s going to be tough for him to put the uniform on.’ But when we realized that he refused to talk to us now, it’s been months and he didn’t want to be a Flyer, didn’t want to be in Philadelphia, it was time to make it happen.”