The Philadelphia Flyers are creating a minor competition for some spots on their rebuilding blue line this summer. The latest addition is 25-year-old defenseman Victor Mete.
According to multiple sources, the Flyers have signed the young(ish) defenseman to a one-year, two-way contract that doesn’t mean a whole lot but supplies this team with at least some needed depth.
Victor Mete going to Philadelphia. $775K/$450K with a $500K guarantee.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 5, 2023
Mete will reportedly earn the league-minimum $775,000 in the NHL and $450,000 in the AHL with a $500,000 guarantee. Being signed to a two-way deal, Mete will earn different salaries at the NHL and AHL level this season, but will still require waivers to be sent down if that ends up happening.
Mete was drafted in the fourth round by the Montreal Canadiens all the way back in 2016 and since then has really made his mark in the league by being an average defenseman in the NHL. He has bounced around a little bit lately – got claimed by the Ottawa Senators off waivers two years ago, played another year for them, and then signed with his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs last summer. He has just hung around in Canada for his entire career and this will be his first venture south of the border.
Due to a lower-body injury last season, Mete only played in 11 NHL games and then got sent down to the AHL to suit up for just six more appearances before the season ended. This lack of playing time will hopefully bring him back to full health because at one point he was destined to be a solid contributor in Montreal.
Mete has had a weird career so far. After playing his post-draft season with the OHL’s London Knights, Mete made it on the Canadiens roster right out of training camp at the age of 19 years old. Since then, he has played in only 13 AHL games including the brief stint last year. He just has a knack to be able to hang around, but unfortunately he has never really played a full NHL season. Be it injuries or healthy scratches, Mete is just pure and available depth.
He is able to bring some mobility to Philadelphia’s blue line, something that is missing among the regulars, but that should be only if he can get back to full health.
Mete isn’t a typical John Tortorella defenseman, which might mean that he is destined for Lehigh Valley. But, it is now an interesting battle on the blue line. With Tony DeAngelo just waiting to be dealt to the Carolina Hurricanes in a couple days and Travis Sanheim’s future uncertain, Mete might just walk into an NHL job.
Currently, the Flyers have Rasmus Ristolainen, Cam York, Sean Walker, Nick Seeler, and Marc Staal as projected and solidified players that should be able to stick around barring anything wild. Now it’s all up to Mete to see if he can at least be better than some prospects like Egor Zamula, Ronnie Attard, Emil Andrae, and Helge Grans; to earn his top-division playing time.
Training camp at least got one more storyline in this barren wasteland.
