The Philadelphia Flyers are quickly getting all of their restricted free agents taken care of. Just days after general manager Daniel Briere announced the team re-signed winger Tyson Foerster and defenseman Helge Grans, he made public that center Noah Cates agreed to a four-year contract extension worth $4 million dollars per season. In his third season with the Flyers, Cates, 26, finished with a career-high 16 goals; His 37 points on the season were one point shy of his career-high 38 points in 2022-23. Though he had a slow start to the year, Cates emerged as the Flyers best center and eventually found sustained chemistry on a line with Foerster and Bobby Brink. They formed the Flyers most consistent line throughout the season, receiving some of the toughest minutes of ice time on the team while also contributing on the scoresheet.
Cates is one of the team’s best defensive forwards, so it was always a forgone conclusion that the Flyers would keep him. The questions were for how much money and how much term. Considering the rising cap over the next few years, this is a very reasonable cap hit. In the wake of the Scott Laughton trade, Cates has also emerged as an up-and-coming leader in the Flyers locker room. Now that he is officially locked in as a piece for their short-term future, Cates is now well poised to take another step forward both on and off the ice.
By: Katie Bogan (@cl4udegiroux)
Image credit to Bruce Bennett/Getty Images.
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