Fantasy hockey impact of Cutter Gauthier-Jamie Drysdale trade - ESPN

It's always dramatic when an NHL organization has to trade a top prospect, and the ripples of the Philadelphia Flyers and Anaheim Ducks trade on Monday make it into the fantasy realm.

The Flyers knew the No. 5 pick from the 2022 draft, Cutter Gauthier, wasn't going to sign with them. So the club capitalized on Gauthier's strong World Juniors showing for the champion Americans and shipped him to the Ducks for offensive-minded blue-liner Jamie Drysdale and a pick.

For keeper leagues, Gauthier is of interest. He is the only top-10 pick from the 2022 draft yet to play in an NHL game but is considered a building block for an NHL franchise on offense. Presumably, the Ducks confirmed he'll sign with them before making the deal, but Gauthier still has some college eligibility years left. The Ducks aren't competing this season, but they might hope to next season with more growth from their young core, so we could see Gauthier skip his final NCAA years and sign a late contract this season — as is often the NHL path.

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But the real fantasy ripple here is Drysdale: A defender with elite playmaking ability on the blue line who has lost some shine in recent seasons due to extensive injury struggles. Twelve of his 28 assists as a 19-year-old rookie in 2021-22 came on the advantage, where only Trevor Zegras had more minutes for the Ducks that season. He missed almost all of last season and a good chunk of this campaign with varying ailments, but has been on the ice since Dec. 21.

Drysdale steps into a Flyers team with little to no success on the power play to date. The Flyers are second last in total power-play points, last in power-play