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The Flyers Mishandled a 19-Year-Old Prospect
Philadelphians are bullying a teenager
The headlines of the sports blogs that connect me to my southeastern Pennsylvania home are familiar: they’re petty, outrageous, and gleeful in their outrage in a manner unique to sports journalism.
But the photo attached to the stories — the face behind the clipart cross-out symbol is that of a young person barely old enough to vote.
Gauthier, 19, was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers with the fifth overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft, and he’s currently a sophomore at Boston College.
He’s big, he’s talented, he’s a sharpshooter with the puck and he dominated the recent World Juniors tournament, where he tied for the highest points total.
The Flyers were excited to get this dynamic prospect onto their roster, and who could blame them? But on January 8th, the Flyers announced they had traded Gauthier’s rights to the Anaheim Ducks, and all hell broke loose. The associated media frenzy has included Gauthier (and current NHL player Kevin Hayes) being the subject of death threats.
A quick rehash of the situation:
Gauthier spoke out about being excited to join the Flyers organization and said he was “built to be a Flyer.” Following discussions with his…
