Philadelphia Flyers forward Noah Cates filed for salary arbitration Wednesday.
The deadline was 5 p.m. Wednesday. Arbitration hearings will be held between July 20 and Aug. 4, according to the players’ union news release.
Players can agree on a new deal with their team before arbitration hearings begin. Once a hearing begins, the arbitrator can only award a one-year or two-year contract.
Twenty-two restricted free agents filed for arbitration. Cates and Olle Lycksell were the only Flyers eligible for salary arbitration.
The Flyers made a qualifying offer to restricted free agent Cates, 24, last month. The offer is worth $875,000 on a two-way contract. The Flyers also made qualifying offers to Morgan Frost, Cam York, Ronnie Attard and Lycksell. Attard signed a contract extension earlier Wednesday. Players can accept their qualifying between July 1 and before they expire on July 15. Teams can extend an offer in writing after the expiration date.
According to PuckPedia, a team can walk away from a contract if the arbitrator awards a player a salary of $4,538,958 or more.
Cates is coming off an impressive season for Philadelphia. He played all 82 games and scored 13 goals and 25 assists for 38 points. He was a plus-3 and only had 12 penalty minutes. Cates is considered an important part of the Flyers’ rebuild.
Zack MacEwen was the only Flyer to file for arbitration last year. He signed a one-year deal for $925,000 before his hearing.
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