While the NHL trade deadline has come and gone, that doesn’t mean the transactions are done. As junior leagues and NCAA seasons start to end around the continent, a whole lot of teams are signing their prospects to their first professional contracts and bringing them in to get a much closer look and how they’re developing. The Philadelphia Flyers are one of those teams as they have signed one of their prospects to an entry-level contract after his college season wrapped up.
Announced by the team on Wednesday morning, the Flyers have signed winger Noah Powell to a three-year, entry-level contract that will start next season.
OFFICIAL: We have signed forward Noah Powell to a three-year entry-level contract beginning with the 2026-27 season.
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) March 11, 2026
Powell will report to the @LVPhantoms (AHL) for the remainder of the 2025-26 season.
Flyers sign prospect Noah Powell to entry-level contract
Powell, 21, was a fifth-round pick from the Flyers back in 2024 at 148th overall and has had an interesting path since then. Originally drafted as an overager anyways, Powell earned the selection by leading the USHL in scoring with 43 goals in 61 games for the Dubuque Fighting Saints.
In an attempt to work his way up the developmental ladder, the 6-foot-2 winger committed to Ohio State University and started his 2024-25 season there, but had some trouble adapting to the increased pace of play compared to his junior days the year before. He still managed to score two goals and five points in 17 games during that freshman year, but he was playing a depth role and largely was just trying to stay afloat overall.
That caused him to switch paths mid-season. In January 2025, Powell made the jump to go play north of the border for the OHL’s Oshawa Generals. He played a middle-six role, largely, and scored nine goals and 22 points in 28 games while being older than almost everyone in that league, at 20 years old.
Powell then took his second chance at college hockey, committing to Arizona State University — in a much easier conference compared to Ohio State — for this season. He scored seven goals and 12 points in 34 games while averaging just 13:00 time-on-ice. He did manage to increase his shot volume though, as he averaged just 1.23 shots on goal with Ohio State and with ASU this past season got up to 1.59 shots on goal per game.
And, compared to how he looked even in the OHL, it seems like he’s really added more jump to his game.
This was beautiful 😍
— EVERYTHING COLLEGE HOCKEY (@TeamECH) March 1, 2026
Noah Powell 🚨pic.twitter.com/Cnryq4ObwE
Part of the announcement by the Flyers was the fact that Powell will be reporting to the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the rest of the season. Even with him not officially under contract until next season, the 21-year-old winger will be reporting on an amateur try-out and then start to actually get paid next season — it’s the exact same scenario we saw with Alex Bump and his Phantoms tenure to finish out last season, but it was later due to him actually winning a national championship and not even making the NCHC tournament, like Powell and his ASU teammates did.
The Phantoms have 16 games left before the playoffs so it should be a really good showcase for Powell, and for the Flyers staff to see how far he has come since picking him two years ago. And with Bump’s recall up to Philadelphia, the Phantoms might just be in need of a young winger who likes to shoot the puck.
If anything, Powell’s arrival and the inclusion of David Jiricek has only made the Phantoms more exciting for Flyers fans to check out — and maybe instead of the NHL team as they continue to look miserable.
