Flyers’ Noah Cates agrees to two-year extension

Cates was the lone Flyer to file for arbitration before the July 5 deadline, and GM Daniel Briere will be happy to avoid that process while locking up the forward through 2025.

In his rookie season with the Flyers, Cates followed up a promising 16-game sample (5G, 9P) from 2021-2022 with his emergence as a legitimate shutdown center in the NHL.

While Cates showed plenty of offensive potential (13G, 38P) on the league’s joint fourth-lowest scoring team, he really shined in his own end. Cates was second amongst Flyers’ forwards in average ice time (17:46), first among Flyers’ forwards in blocked shots (65), first on the team in rating (+3), and one of just three skaters to suit up in every game.

Despite a high-leverage, penalty-killing role for John Tortorella’s club, Cates drew only 12 penalty minutes all season. He finished 15th in Selke Trophy voting as the league’s top defensive forward as a fresh face on an under-the-radar team and was ninth in Calder Trophy voting as rookie of the year.

Cates became a favorite of Tortorella throughout the season and was always likely to sign a competitive extension in Philadelphia. His new number makes him the club’s sixth-highest-earning forward.

While the return of former Selke-winner Sean Couturier will mean Cates will not log as many all-situations minutes in 2023-2024, the undrafted 24-year-old has stamped his place on the Flyers’ opening-night roster and will continue to provide stellar defense.

If he skates with one or both of fellow defensive forward Scott Laughton and former Capitals agitator and new Flyer Garnet Hathaway, Cates’s line could be Philadelphia’s answer for some of the Metropolitan Division’s brightest stars.