Forward Nolan Patrick has accepted the Philadelphia Flyers’ qualifying offer and will now be under contract for one year, at a cap hit of $847,125.
Philadelphia tendered a qualifying offer to Patrick — along with Mikhail Vorobyev and Philippe Myers — last Tuesday and ten days later, the forward accepted it. Accepting the qualifying offer automatically results in a one-year deal that is 105 percent of their previous salary and cap hit.
Patrick, unfortunately for him, has no leverage when it comes to negotiating his second professional contract, due to his health concerns, which most likely led him down the uncommon route of a player accepting their qualifying offer.
The 22-year-old center is still on the Injured Reserve list during this offseason, so his new contract will not affect the Flyers’ cap structure until he’s deemed healthy enough to play.
The former second-overall pick missed all of last season after being diagnosed with a migraine disorder in Sept. 2019, but returned to practice with his Flyers teammates last February, before the NHL was shutdown due to the pandemic.
If one can be an optimist — unusual as a Philadelphia sports fan — Patrick has participated in friendly scrimmages in his hometown of Brandon, Manitoba during this offseason. Despite not playing in a professional hockey game in 18 months, there are some that can confidently pencil him in as the third-line center whenever the 2020-21 season starts.
During his rookie campaign, Patrick averaged just under 14 minutes per game, scoring 13 goals and 30 points through 73 games. To follow up his rookie year as a depth player, he earned an increase in his ice-time, averaging over 15 minutes per game, but ended up matching his goal total and scoring one more point through 72 games.
If he comes back completely healthy and plays a larger role than before on this team, this contract should be considered extremely team friendly and line him up for a future deal with a longer-term to stay in Philadelphia and on a competitive team.
