Well, the Philadelphia Flyers reportedly have their first free agent signing of the summer and it’s not Johnny Gaudreau, or Nazem Kadri, or anyone really worthwhile for the NHL roster.
The Flyers have reportedly signed forward Cooper Marody to a 2-year deal after spending the better part of the last 4 seasons within the Edmonton Oilers organization. His agency group broke the news on Twitter.
Marody was a former Flyers draft pick when he was selected in the 6th round with the 158th selection by former general manager Ron Hextall.
Marody’s signing rights were traded on March 21, 2018 by the Flyers to the Edmonton Oilers for a 3rd round pick in 2019. The Flyers never used that selection as they packaged it in a deal to move up in the draft to select Bobby Brink.
Marody played parts of 2 seasons with the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL from 2013-14 to 2014-15, played in 72 games, scored 11 goals, and added 39 points before being shipped off to Sioux Falls Stampede the same year, where he exploded for 20 goals and 49 points in 38 games. He then played for the University of Michigan for 3 years between 2015-16 and 2017-18, where he suited up for 90 games, scored 31 goals and finished 90 points.
After being traded by the Flyers, he suited up for 3 games in the AHL with the Bakersfield Condors, where he scored 1 goal and added 2 assists. He then flip-flopped between the AHL and NHL over the next few seasons, but only suited up for the Oilers in 7 games – 6 in 2018-19 with 0 points and then 1 game in 2021-22 with 1 assist. With the Condors however, he played in 179 games from 2018-19 to 2021-22, scored 66 goals and 172 points. In 15 playoff games, he scored 2 goals and 5 points.
Marody was named to the All-Big Ten First Team in 2018, won the Big Ten Scoring Champion in the same year, and was also named to the AHCA West Second-Team-All-American.
At the AHL level, he was named to the 2019 All-Star Game, was named to the Pacific Division All-Star Team in 2021, and won the Willie Marshall Award as the leading goal scorer for the AHL.
