The Philadelphia Flyers have filled out the organizational depth chart with one swift motion, announcing new contracts for five players. Ryan Fitzgerald, Adam Clendening and Nick Seeler have all signed one-year, two-way contracts that will pay $750K at the NHL level. Gerald Mayhew has signed a one-year, two-way contract worth $800K at the NHL level. Cooper Zech has signed a one-year, two-way contract worth $875K at the NHL level.
All five are pretty solid depth pieces for the team, with three having NHL experience. Seeler’s 105 games lead in that category, though none of them came in the 2020-21 season. The 28-year-old defenseman didn’t play anywhere this year after having his contract terminated with the Chicago Blackhawks in January. Clendening is next on the NHL games list with 90, but none of them have come since the 2018-19 season. This year he played just nine contests for the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL, spending most of the year on the taxi squad.
Mayhew has just 17 games at the NHL level, though he is the only one to have played there in 2020-21. The 28-year-old undrafted forward is an elite scoring threat at the minor league level, tallying 39 goals in 49 AHL games in 2019-20. Fitzgerald hasn’t yet made the NHL, but is also a strong offensive player who is coming off 21 points in 28 games with Lehigh Valley.
Perhaps most interesting is Zech though, who landed the biggest NHL salary of the bunch despite no games at that level. Just 22, the former Ferris State University star had seven points in 21 games for the Providence Bruins this season. He also played in Slovakia, racking u p ten points in 15 games, and has some interesting upside as a puck-moving defenseman. Though he certainly may not play in Philadelphia this year, he’ll now be a restricted free agent under team control even when this contract expires.
Nice moves.
Prosser prolly gone. sad.