Flyers sign Noah Cates to four-year contract extension

On Tuesday, Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere announced the team has signed forward Noah Cates to a four-year contract extension.

The deal, which spans through the 2028-29 season, will carry an AAV of $4 million.

It’s a nice pay bump for Cates, who just finished up the final season of his two-year contract that he signed in July 2023. That contract has a cap hit of $2.625 million, which could’ve led the player to become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.

The new deal currently makes Cates the fourth highest-paid forward on the Flyers roster. He’s also the second Flyer that received a contract extension in the past week, as forward Tyson Foerster received a two-year, $7.5 million deal last Thursday.

Cates is coming off a solid 2024-25 campaign, individually, as the Flyers stumbled to the bottom of the Metropolitan Division. In 78 games, the 26-year-old scored a career-high 16 goals, registering 21 assists and 37 points as well. He finished just a hair from his career-best 38-point performance during the 2022-23 season.

This year was a much-needed bounce-back run for Cates, who battled injuries during the 2023-24 season. The former Minnesota-Duluth star was limited to just 59 games last season, posting a measly 18 points.

Across four seasons with the Flyers, Cates has scored 40 goals and 62 assists for 102 points in 235 games. His new contract ensures that he’s expected to be a key part of a team rebuilding, with the hope of finding better days in the near future.

Along with his tenure in Philadelphia, Cates has represented his country on a couple of occasions. The Stillwater, Minnesota native took home a silver medal with the United States at the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship, making his debut with the senior national team at the 2022 IIHF Men’s World Championship.