Flyers sign Michael Bunting to one-year contract

After a rough start to their season, the Philadelphia Flyers are bringing in some help for their forward group.

On Tuesday, the Flyers signed winger Michael Bunting to a one-year, $1.2 million contract.

Bunting, 31, split last season between the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars. In 61 games with Nashville, he notched 13 goals and 18 assists for 31 points. At the trade deadline, he was dealt to Dallas in exchange for a third-round pick. He then had a goal and an assist for two points in 13 games with the Stars, before contributing one assist in one game played during Dallas’ first-round playoff loss to the Minnesota Wild.

Initially selected in the fourth round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft by the Arizona Coyotes, Bunting spent the majority of his first six professional seasons playing for Arizona’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate Tuscon Roadrunners. A 21-game stint with the Coyotes in the 2020-21 season, in which he scored 10 goals and added three assists for 13 points, was enough for the Toronto Maple Leafs to sign him as a group 6 free agent ahead of the 2021-22 season.

The Scarborough, Ontario native broke out in his first season with the Leafs. Playing on Toronto’s top line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, Bunting registered 23 goals and 40 assists for a career-best 63 points in 79 games.

After another solid season with the Leafs, in which he put up 23 goals and 26 assists for 49 points in 82 games, Bunting signed a three-year, $13.5 million deal with the Carolina Hurricanes as an unrestricted free agent. Since then, Bunting has not played a full season with a single team, as he was traded in March of 2024 to the Pittsburgh Penguins, and then again in March of 2025 to the Predators.

The Flyers, who have yet to win a game this season, will visit the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.