The Philadelphia Flyers got their final piece of decently-big business done on Friday, signing two restricted free agents to new contracts. Just in time to enjoy a couple of weeks before training camp begins.
OFFICIAL: We have signed forward Wade Allison to a two-year, two-way/one-way contract with an AAV of $785,000.
We have also signed defenseman Linus Högberg to a one-year, two-way contract with an AAV of $750,000. https://t.co/zrh4bI75v7— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) August 26, 2022
A new contract for Wade Allison was the only somewhat sizeable task left for the Flyers front office. While certainly not as important as the Owen Tippett extension or other contracts handed out to the young players that will actually be sticking around in Philadelphia through some sort of mess, getting the 24-year-old’s signature on a new contract was significant enough.
Allison has now been extended on a two-year deal, carrying a cap hit of $785,000. The one interesting tidbit of this contract is that it will be split between a one-way and a two-way deal. In the first year of the contract, Allison will earn different salaries depending on if he is playing in the NHL or AHL, and in the second year it will not matter. The Flyers did the same thing for the new contract of Tanner Laczynski, and the opposite (one-way, then two-way) for Nick Seeler.
As soon as Allison made his NHL debut during the 2020-21 season and kept on trucking along with his body-bruising style of production — getting seven points in his first 14 NHL games — he was a fan favorite and someone that you just want the best for. Unfortunately injury troubles caused him to miss massive chunks of last season, causing him to only get into the Flyers lineup for one appearance. He rehabbed well enough, getting 17 points in 28 games in the AHL, and should be someone we can pencil in on the Flyers lineup at some point during the 2022-23 season.
On the other side of this transaction coin, the Flyers signed defenseman Linus Högberg to a one-year, two-way contract that will carry a cap hit of $750,000 — if he is in the NHL. The 23-year-old defender got to make his NHL debut last season, appearing in five games and somehow earning two assists. He will most likely be near the top of the lineup down with the Phantoms, as they try to sort out what young blueliners are actually worth the development.
This tumultuous summer in Philadelphia is almost over, so at least we got some contract signings out of the way before training camp. The only remaining restricted free agent for the Flyers is forward Hayden Hodgson, so, yeah.
