Noah Cates, coming off a career-high 16 goals to further cement himself in the Flyers' future, signed a four-year, $16 million contract extension Tuesday.
The 26-year-old center was a restricted free agent this offseason. His new deal has an average annual value of $4 million and he'll be an unrestricted free agent when it expires. His previous contract was for two years and had a $2.625 million AAV.
Over the last six days, the Flyers have re-signed Cates, Tyson Foerster to a two-year deal and Helge Grans to a two-year deal.
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SIGN UP HERE The Flyers view Cates' 200-foot prowess as an important element to their rebuild. He's a culture guy who epitomizes playing the game the right way. As one of the Flyers' top defensive forwards, Cates also added secondary offense this season after a challenging 2023-24 campaign.
"I don't think there are a lot of guys in the league that take as much pride in their defensive game as he does," former interim head coach Brad Shaw said in April. "I thought for a pretty good stretch this year, he might have been one of the four or five hardest guys to play against in the league."
Cates' line with Foerster and Bobby Brink was used a lot for the Flyers' toughest matchups. Cates overcame being healthy scratched in the season opener to finish with 37 points and a plus-3 rating through 78 games. His 15 even strength goals were tied with Travis Konecny for fourth most on the team.
"The work he has put in, the patience he has had being out of the lineup, having to work his way up the lineup — I just think he has let his play do the talking for him," Shaw said. "He's a guy that doesn't do it with flash; he's a guy that does it in the trenches and in the 1-on-1s. A great example guy.
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"I try not to show him on video because it's easy to show them on video: 'Oh, there it is again, look, they're doing it the right way. Oh, there it is again.' Well, I'm trying to find other guys doing it the right way to sort of spread it around. But if you want to know how we're supposed to be playing, just watch Noah Cates."
After signing a bridge deal in July 2023, Cates clearly wanted more term on his new contract. The Flyers were happy to do that at a pretty reasonable cap hit.
"This guy's an unbelievably valuable guy — not just on the ice, but in the room," Shaw said. "I think as he gets more comfortable in his own skin, he's going to earn the right to say what's on his mind, as well."
The Flyers hope Cates grows as a leader and a key piece to eventually ending their playoff drought. They've gone five straight seasons without a playoff berth, matching the franchise's longest skid.
The four-year commitment from Cates shows he has faith in the rebuild.
"This is an organization that'll do whatever it takes to win," Cates said at his end-of-the-season press conference in April. "The culture here is great and it's obviously a place I want to be a long time."
Cam York and Jakob Pelletier are now the remaining restricted free agents on the Flyers' roster that need new deals.