What should the contracts for each Flyers RFA look like?

The Flyers have officially sent out their qualifying offers to five of their restricted free agents. Noah Cates, Morgan Frost, Olle Lycksell, Ronnie Attard, and Cam York are all now each officially an RFA starting July 1st. Some notable players who did not receive a qualifying offer are Evan Barratt, Kieffer Bellows, and Wyatte Wylie.

Now that the qualifying offers have officially been handed out, and with a bit of cap space to work with, what should the contracts look like for each of these players?

Noah Cates

(Heather Barry Images, LLC)

I think when looking at Cates, the Flyers should take the Sean Couturier route. Couturier, like Cates, was a great defensive player who had flashes of offensive talent throughout his rookie year. He also received some Selke and Calder buzz as well this season.

However, unlike Couturier, Cates’ rookie year was his only year in the NHL under contract. Couturier’s bridge deal was 2 years, $1.75M AAV. That seems about right for Cates as it’ll take him to his final year before becoming an unrestricted free agent. Hopefully he can continue to work on his offensive game to get a better contract next time around.

2 YEARS, $1.75M AAV

Morgan Frost

(Heather Barry Images, LLC)

Well, this is interesting. Frost was given a “prove-it” deal this past offseason signing a one year deal. He started slow but kicked it into gear at the end of the year, flashing the talent the Flyers have seen in him for years.

Frost still has more to prove, however, as this 20-game window isn’t enough to guarantee a long-term deal. Frost most likely will get a bridge deal for 2 years to take him to his final year of restricted free agency. His last contract was worth $800K, and his 17 points in the final 20 games should increase his pay by a considerable amount. On top of that, Frost likely will be an 82 game player next season (barring injury).

2 YEARS, $2.50M AAV

Olle Lycksell

(Heather Barry Images, LLC)

Out of the five players to receive a qualifying offer, Lycksell is the hardest one to figure out a contract for. He’s only played eight total games in the NHL, but did light it up in Lehigh Valley this season posting 45 points in 53 games.

This deal will probably look close to Frost’s contract last season, probably worth a little bit less money. With this being the case, I think he’ll accept the qualifying offer and see if he can translate his success in the AHL to the NHL.

QUALIFYING OFFER ACCEPTED – 1 YEAR, $787,500 AAV

Ronnie Attard

(Heather Barry Images, LLC)

Attard looked good in college with Western Michigan, in the AHL with the Phantoms, and his limited time up with the Flyers in his first few years under contract.

With Ivan Provorov now gone, and Tony DeAngelo most likely following him soon thereafter, Attard is in prime position for playing time in the next couple of years. A solid AHL season last year plus holes on the blue line that need filling? The perfect time for the Flyers and Attard to strike a pretty decent bridge deal. Right-handed defensemen don’t come around often, so it’ll cost a little bit more to keep him around.

2 YEARS, $2M AAV

Cam York

(Heather Barry Images, LLC)

This will be the situation to keep an eye on this summer. The Flyers have a couple options here, as this contract negotiation could go a number of ways.

The first option is to sign York to a three-year bridge deal at a cheaper price, then give him an eight-year deal at a high price once he hits his final year of restricted free agency.

The second option is give him a full eight-year deal like we’ve seen recently, A higher price now will then go down as the cap goes up and the player improves. Basically, the Flyers would be buying stock in his growth.

The third option is what the Flyers did with Ivan Provorov and Joel Farabee, not the full eight years but also not short enough where he’d stay a restricted free agent after it’s up. I think the Flyers would be better suited for option one or two and here is why.

Option one would guarantee York is here at least three more years. If things don’t work out for one reason or another, they can let him walk. If he does perform well, they can offer him the big contract right in the window that the Flyers are supposedly going to be competitive by as an anchor/core player. Win-win right? Well, what if York is a stud but wants out as an RFA? No worries, the Flyers can trade him or can wait until he signs an offer-sheet and collect compensation for him.

Option two makes sense as well. Getting York at a higher price than he’s worth these next 2-4 years would be worth it when the Flyers are in their competition window and have York at a much lower price than what the market would be for a player like him. We’ve already seen a couple teams do these deals with their big RFAs, and if York keeps playing and progressing like he did this year…that contract could be a steal in 4 years.

As long as York doesn’t get the Provorov/Farabee deal, Flyers fans should be happy. This deal would put the Flyers in a tough spot here we would need to resign him at the start of the team’s playoff window in five or six years. It would be kind of like the Damon Severson situation this year with the Devils. A solid player who would definitely help a playoff team, but just too expensive to keep at the exact time they open their window. I don’t want that to happen with York.

3 YEARS, $5M AAV/8 YEARS, $8M AAV

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