The Philadelphia Flyers selected Boston College men’s hockey incoming freshman Cutter Gauthier with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft on Thursday night.
Gauthier’s No. 5 selection is tied for the highest NHL draft pick in school history. Both Noah Hanifin and Bill Guerin, who were drafted in 2015 and 1989, respectively, were also taken at No. 5.
The selection marks the 22nd time in program history that a BC player has been chosen in the first round.
“It’s such a surreal moment,” Gauthier said in his post-draft press conference. “It’s everything I dreamed of growing up, hearing my name called someday. I’m so happy that the Philadelphia Flyers are the ones to do it.”
Gauthier, a 6-foot-3, 189-pound forward, is a product of the U.S. National Team Development Program (USNTDP). Though he played left wing with the USNTDP, he’s expected to play center for BC during the 2022–23 season and will be a versatile option for the Flyers.
After he was chosen, Gauthier said that he had a good feeling that the Flyers were heavily interested in him ahead of the draft.
“I think I had a really good interview with them, of course at the combine and yesterday, so it was nice talking to them,” Gauthier said.
In the 2021–22 season Gauthier scored 34 goals and 65 points through 54 games with the U-18 team. He ranked second on the team in goals scored.
At the 2022 IIHF World U-18 Championships, Gauthier helped lead Team USA to a silver medal, scoring nine points—three goals and six assists—in six games. The year prior, Gauthier played for the USNTDP U-17 program. There, he scored 20 goals and 17 assists in 44 games.
In this year’s draft combine, Gauthier beat out the other 85 participants in the Wingate ergometer bike test, a 30-second stationary bike sprint that simulates a shift for a skater. He finished fourth in the standing long jump drill, eighth in the pro-agility shuttle run, ninth in pull-ups, and eighth in the force-plate vertical jump.
Gauthier is a powerful shooter and a strong skater. He is ranked third among draft-eligible skaters by NHL Central Scouting.
“He’s a prototypical pro,” Nick Fohr, Gauthier’s coach during his time with the USNTDP, said in an article from The Athletic. “He’s big, strong, fast, and can shoot a puck. When you think of that prototypical power forward type of hockey player, Cutter Gauthier has all of those physical attributes to him that scream that he’s going to be a pro hockey player.”
Gauthier is the fourth BC player in four years to be selected in the first round, joining Matt Boldy, Spencer Knight, and Alex Newhook, who were all selected in the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft.
