With the draft and development camp behind us, we’re officially in the doldrums of summer. Things are slowing down, but that doesn’t mean that the trickle of happenings has ceased entirely. We’re kicking off this week with a bit of news – despite having filed for arbitration, Noah Cates and the Flyers have avoided the hearing and come to an agreement on a new contract ahead of it. Cates will be sticking around for two more years, on a contract that will earn him $2.625 million per year.
OFFICIAL: We've agreed to terms with forward Noah Cates on a two-year, $5.25 million contract ($2.625 million AAV). https://t.co/h4DV0xxEbX
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) July 10, 2023
Cates is coming off of what, by all counts, was a very positive first full season of play in the NHL. His scoring numbers were tidy – eight goals and 25 points in 82 games played – and his acumen on the defensive side was a real asset for a team that was making a concerted effort to figure out how to play a more sound defensive game from top to bottom. And with the Flyers’ center depth taking a number of hits throughout the course of the season, a lot was asked of Cates at times in terms of his place in the lineup and the minutes he was expected to take, but he took all of that in stride, and came out of this one of the bright spots in an otherwise pretty difficult season.
The bridge deal, too, is good news for him. We see the player betting on himself, that his performance last season was not an anomaly, but rather the foundation from which he’s going to continue to build, and that he’ll be worth more when the time to sign the next contract comes around. The Flyers, in turn, are betting that there’s less developmental runway ahead of him – this contract saves them some money now, in the short term, but helps them less in the long term. That is, in a few years’ time, when they’re looking to be competitive, there’s going to be more value in having good players signed below market value, but with this timeline, there’s a risk that Cates could price himself out of that window.
But, the contract questions are for all of our future selves to sweat about. For now, we can just revel in the comfort that a productive young player is going to be sticking around for just a bit longer.
