The Philadelphia Flyers have continued to lock up their restricted free agents before the real busy time of the offseason even starts. First, it was Tyson Foerster getting his two-year bridge deal to bet on himself and now, they have re-signed centerman Noah Cates to a four-year deal.
Announced by the team on Tuesday morning, the Flyers have signed the 26-year-old forward to a four-year, $16-million deal ($4-million AAV) that will keep him in the Orange and Black through the 2028-29 season.
BREAKING: We have signed forward @cates_noah to a four-year contract extension worth an annual average value (AAV) of $4 million. #LetsGoFlyers
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) June 3, 2025
According to The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz, this contract also features no trade protection. No no-trade clauses. Zero trade protection. However it makes sense in the written word. Cates doesn’t have a say whether or not he is traded to a certain destination.
Cates was a pending restricted free agent — along with Foerster — and was heading into a crucial summer for his career. This contract buys three unrestricted free agent years, as the 26-year-old was just one year away from hitting the open market.
After establishing himself as a very good defensive forward in his early career the last couple of seasons, Cates followed it up with bouncing back offensively with a 16-goal, 37-point campaign where he was more cemented in his role. While his previous career high of 38 points in the 2022-23 season was not bested, Cates averaged a whole two minutes less this past season compared to that career-high year.
Instead of chopping it up in the top six because Sean Couturier was out for an entire season, he was firmly in the Flyers’ middle six throughout the season and was given even more defensive responsibilities compared to his previous years.
Now this upcoming season, with a new contract signed, he will most likely remain in that third-line role. Couturier will most likely play above him and if the Flyers sign a stopgap centerman with more offensive upside than Cates, then he will be further up in the depth chart as well. But, that is just perfectly fine. Cates is your ideal third-line center that will play on the second power play unit and is one of the best young defensive forwards in the entire league.
If Cates just keeps the status quo, this is an incredible deal considering the rising salary cap ceiling. If he drops down in production and is more of a shutdown center or solid defensive wing in the bottom six, then it might just be a slight overpay. But considering where the Flyers are right now, it doesn’t prevent them from doing a whole lot.
Now, it is only Cam York and Jakob Pelletier who remain as restricted free agents on this team that need new contracts. Should we expect deals to get done in the next couple of weeks considering general manager Danny Briere is set on putting pen to paper for these young players? Maybe, maybe not.
