The Philadelphia Flyers can check off another RFA off of their list as Noah Cates has agreed to a 2-year deal worth $5.25 million, according to general manager, Daniel Brière.
Cates filed for salary arbitration late last week but the two sides were able to hammer down a deal in short order with the 23-year-old centre getting a modest raise with an AAV of $2.65 million. He joins Egor Zamula and Ronnie Attard as pending RFAs to receive a new contract, while Alexei Kolosov signed his ELC over the weekend.
Cates enjoyed success in quick order after he signed his ELC near the end of the 2021-22 season with 5 goals and 9 points in 16 games. He entered the 2022-23 season with John Tortorella as a bottom-6 option to start but blossomed in front of our eyes and became a top-6 option, centering a line with Joel Farabee and Travis Konecny by the end of the year.
On the season he scored 13 goals and 38 points in a full 82-game campaign, scoring 8 of those goals and 21 of those points in his final 36 games. He was featured on the power play, was a top penalty killer, and became an instant favourite for Tortorella and his coaching staff.
Cates averaged 17:46 TOI which was good for 8th on the team and 3rd highest for a forward, he carried a ratio of 60 takeaways to 13 giveaways, which was far and away the best on the team, and for his strong two-way play he not only received a Calder Trophy vote but had given off Selke Trophy vibes along the way.
Thanks to JFreshHockey, we know exactly how underrated his season truly was:
The University of Minnesota-Duluth product slowly carved his way through the NCAA circuit, finishing with 39 goals and 99 points in 129 games over his 4 years. His hockey IQ was what everyone raved about as he signed his ELC and it was has been on full display throughout his short career to date.
With the return of Sean Couturier but figuring in the departure of Kevin Hayes, Noah Cates should be a fixture in the top-9 as the Flyers’ 3C – behind Morgan Frost – and will be relied upon heavily for important minutes, penalty killing, and perhaps 2nd unit of the power play. Couturier and Cates could become a formidable two-way duo for the foreseeable future.
The Flyers still need to sign RFAs in Morgan Frost and Olle Lycksell.
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