Hayes vehemently denies influencing Gauthier

St. Louis Blues forward Kevin Hayes vigorously denied having anything to do with Cutter Gauthier refusing to sign with the Philadelphia Flyers before the club traded the talented prospect's rights to the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night.

Anthony SanFilippo, a writer and podcast host for Crossing Broad - a Philadelphia-based sports blog - speculated to his co-host that Hayes' "fingerprints are all over this" and later wrote that sources told him Hayes was "very influential" with Gauthier.

"Yeah, I think it's complete bullshit, honestly," Hayes said Tuesday, according to Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "I think those two guys acted like complete pieces of shit, to be honest, making shit up. Now, I'm going to bed and waking up with death threats and people want my family dead. ...

"And people that are happy that my brother's dead," he continued. "I think it's completely insane that this guy can say something like that. I honestly heard it and started laughing. Who the f--k am I to have influence on if a kid plays for an NHL team or not? I don't have that influence."

Hayes spent four seasons with the Flyers before they traded him to the Blues in June. The 31-year-old played four years at Boston College, where Gauthier is currently starring as a sophomore.

The 19-year-old winger is fresh off leading the United States to a gold medal at the world juniors while pacing the squad with 12 points in seven games. The Flyers traded his rights to the Ducks for defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a 2025 second-round pick Monday night.

Philadelphia general manager Daniel Briere later revealed Gauthier told the organization he didn't want to be a Flyer. The GM added that the team never got an answer as to why.

The Flyers drafted Gauthier fifth overall in 2022.