Sometimes, blockbuster moves occur in sports. Other times, they fall through and nothing comes out of it. That was the case with the Colorado Avalanche and Philadelphia Flyers in 2024.
It was reported back around that time by Elliotte Friedman that Cutter Gauthier, who currently plays for the Anaheim Ducks, almost became a member of the Avalanche through what would have been a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Now, in a recent podcast episode, Frank Seravalli brought that topic up again. Full quote at 30:43 in the video.
"Here’s one trade that never happened: the Avalanche and Flyers were talking about Cutter Gauthier when they had to move him. The Flyers were looking for Bowen Byram for Cutter Gauthier straight-up. The Avalanche said, “well if you want Bowen Byram, you need to add a third in order to make that happen."Frank Seravalli
Instead, the Avalanche acquired Casey Mittelstadt and shipped Bowen Byram to the Buffalo Sabres, in what was a horizontal move, up until Byram’s breakout in 2025-26, which included a tremendous postseason.
The move to acquire Mittelstadt was because of the Avalanche’s need at second-line center. Nazem Kadri left in free agency after the 2021-22 Stanley Cup-winning season, and second-line center was deemed the team’s biggest need.
Gauthier took 208 faceoffs with the Ducks this past season. He won 102 of them, which equates to 49%. Anything around 50% faceoff success rate is considered acceptable.
In the end, the Avalanche got Kadri back at this past season’s trade deadline and he instantly helped improve the power play. A lot of the time, it was evident that there was non lost chemistry between him and his teammates.
That’s not to say that Gauthier wouldn’t have thrived in Colorado. As a young forward, he could have had a great career in Colorado under the wings of Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. And over the past year, captain Gabriel Landeskog.
Who knows, though? Maybe Gauthier will have a chance at going to Colorado later on in his career in a crazy blockbuster move. There were several uncertainties with the Avalanche over the past couple of years, and pending anything dramatic or tragic, that depth will continue for several more years as the Avalanche seek out their next Stanley Cup.
Right now, they’ve got a couple of things to worry about, including getting some of their 2026 draft picks to hit. They don’t have many quality picks right now, so adding depth to their prospect pool will be their focus there.
On the roster itself, there aren’t a ton of glaring needs, so they’ll likely run it back in 2026-27.
Now with the Ducks, Gauthier looks like a promising young player. The Avalanche are in win-now mode, and we won’t know whether or not Gauthier would have worked out in Colorado, but it would have been interesting. Instead, Mittelstadt flunked out with the Avalanche after just two seasons. Mittelstadt was just not the player the Avalanche hoped he would be.
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