There is no denying the unique combination of skills. The scouting report on Julien Gauthier is that he has size, strength, and speed, more than enough to make it in the NHL. Yet under David Quinn, he couldn’t find a regular roster spot. Was that on Quinn for being a little too hooked on his fourth line? Or was that on Gauthier for not forcing the issue with his play on the ice? The answer is likely a combination of both.
It’s not a question of his skill. We’ve seen what he can do. It’s whether he can do it consistently. This season he certainly did not, but we saw way more flashes of the goal above than we did bad plays. The 23 year old (24 next season) put up 2-6-8 in 30 games, an 82 game pace of 5-16-21, which is quite perfect for a fourth line role. For those who want him to use his size, he had 56 hits, if you use that stat as a barometer of physicality.
On ice impacts
Believe it or not, Gauthier had a solid defensive impact. He was a net-7% positive impact on defense, which is a little surprising to me. I would have thought given his role and perceived type of play, he’d be a net negative on defense. But what do I know? His impact on offense was negligible, so he was holding his own. Small sample size warning, of course.
Most of the shot attempts come from the points when Gauthier is on the ice. That’s a product of pretty good team defense.
It seems where Gauthier excelled, or at least where the Rangers excelled while he was on the ice, was limiting quality chances. This checks out with the heatmap. While surprising, this is a pretty nice surprise to see. When you see a report on Julien Gauthier, this isn’t usually mentioned. Perhaps he can fly under the radar, but that’s only as long as he doesn’t put up points.
Final Grade
Julien Gauthier’s final report card is one of role, expectations, and results. You can’t fault him fully for not being able to get in the lineup, given the roster and what we know about the coach. You also can’t really fault him for being unable to get into the top-nine when you see the wingers he would have to leap frog. He’s a fourth liner on the Rangers, and expectations need to be tailored as such.
That said, you’d like to see more consistent offensive chances like that goal above. He will get there, perhaps with more powerplay time. Whether or not it is with the Rangers is to be seen.
Julien Gauthier 2021 Report Card Grade: C+
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