Noah Cates signed a four-year, $16 million contract with the Philadelphia Flyers on June 3. It has an average annual value of $4 million.
The 26-year-old center could have become a restricted free agent on July 1. He completed a two-year, $5.25 million contract ($2.625 million AAV) he signed with the Flyers on July 10, 2023.
"It's great term in terms of where I'll be at and some prime years for me to get to free agency," Cates said June 11. "Just that security and knowing that I'll be in Philly for the next four years, having a bit of a runway with where we want to go and where we want to be. Super exciting and I think it's a great contract and I'm super excited for it."
He had 37 points in 78 games this season, including an NHL career-high 16 goals. That came after he was a healthy scratch four of the first five games of the season.
"Starting the season getting scratched, not where I wanted to be after last season and starting this year, to just kind of keep my head down and find my game and find the effective way that I can play and do it consistently and do it for most of the season was great," Cates said. "I'm super happy with how I kind of stuck to it and believed in myself.
"I know what I am as a player and where I'm at. Just sticking with it turned out to be the best thing for me. I had a good year and got this nice contract."
Selected by Philadelphia in the fifth round (No. 137) of the 2017 NHL Draft, Cates has 102 points (40 goals, 62 assists) in 235 games, all with the Flyers.
“Another homegrown Flyer,” general manager Daniel Briere said of Cates. “Great pick. He was picked as a winger, transitioned to center because it was a position of need that we didn't have a lot of. Now he's a center for us that is becoming very, very valuable.
“It's really exciting to see those guys develop in the organization.”
NHL.com deputy managing editor Adam Kimelman contributed to this report
