The last of the Philadelphia Flyers’ restricted free agents has finally signed, as forward Hayden Hodgson signed a two-year, two-way/one-way contract on Monday, per Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher.
The contract has an average annual value of $800,000 at the NHL level, and it will convert from a two-way contract to a one-way contract in 2023-24.
Hodgson, a 26-year-old right wing from Windsor, Ontario, signed his first NHL contract with the Flyers last season on March 22nd, 2022. He originally entered the 2021-22 season on an American Hockey League contract with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, where he scored 18 goals and 11 assists for 29 points in 44 games at the time of the signing. His goal total at that time was tied for the team lead with Phantoms captain Cal O’Reilly, who had appeared in 13 more games than Hodgson.
Hodgson was recalled to Philadelphia shortly afterwards on an emergency basis and made his NHL debut on March 24th, 2022 in a nationally televised road affair against the St. Louis Blues. Philadelphia would win the game 5-2, and Hodgson would rack up his first NHL goal and assist in the contest.
#42 in orange and white made his impact felt immediately, and was rewarded with five more NHL games during the year. Hodgson finished his Flyers tenure last season with a goal and two assists in six contests, while recording 19 goals and 12 assists in 46 games for Lehigh Valley.
Before reaching the NHL, Hodgson played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the Erie Otters, Sarnia Sting, and Saginaw Spirit between 2012 and 2017. He served as an alternate captain with the Spirit in his final season in 2016-17 and set his OHL single-season career-highs in games played (67), goals (38), assists (28), penalty minutes (71), and points (66).
After leaving the OHL, he began his professional career in 2017-18 as an undrafted free agent in with the Cleveland Monsters, the Columbus Blue Jackets’ AHL affiliate. He posted just three goals and three assists for six points in 41 games with Cleveland, and he also spent time in the ECHL with the Manchester Monarchs and Florida Everblades.
He began his 2018-19 campaign in the ECHL, this time with the Wichita Thunder, but he left after 13 games to play in Slovakia with HC Detva, where he racked up 14 points in 21 games. His improvement over the season earned him another ECHL deal in 2019-20 with the Reading Royals, the Flyers’ affiliate at that level. Hodgson took full advantage of the opportunity and potted 12 goals and 8 assists for 20 points in 36 games during the COVID-shortened season, all ECHL career-bests for the forward at the time.
He remained in the league during the 2020-21 campaign, but due to the Royals not participating because of COVID-19, Hodgson spent the season with the Wheeling Nailers and Utah Grizzlies. He appeared in 44 games between the two clubs, posting 8 goals and 10 assists for an 18-point showing. Hodgson also racked up 127 penalty minutes that season, an unusually high amount for the forward as he only recorded 160 total penalty minutes across his entire professional career up until that point.
His season caught the attention of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, who gave him a tryout after Hodgson was slated to return to Reading for 2021-22. He impressed the team enough to earn an AHL contract for the season, and his success was parlayed again into an NHL contract in March, and now he has been signed again at the NHL level through 2024.
