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Philadelphia Flyers Sign Hayden Hodgson

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After working his way up from the low minors to earn an NHL contract last season, Hayden Hodgson has cashed in again. The Philadelphia Flyers have signed Hodgson to a two-year contract that will carry an average annual value of $800K in the NHL. The deal is two-way in 2022-23, meaning he will earn a lower number when playing in the AHL, and one-way in 2023-24.

If you want a story of perseverance, look no further than the 26-year-old Hodgson, who was a third-round pick in his OHL draft, went undrafted by NHL teams, and spent parts of four seasons in the ECHL before becoming an AHL regular in 2021-22.

Because of his outstanding play for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, he earned an NHL contract in March and played six games with the Flyers down the stretch, scoring three points and racking up 11 penalty minutes.

The 6’2″ winger blends skill, work ethic, and physicality to provide a pretty interesting late-blooming package, one that has a chance to play more regular minutes with the Flyers this season.

Landing a one-way contract is no joke for a player who had bounced around the ECHL up until a year ago, playing for the Florida Everblades, Manchester Monarchs, Wichita Thunder, Reading Royals, Wheeling Nailers, and Utah Grizzlies (not to mention Detva HC of the Slovak league) between stints in the AHL.

It also takes care of the last remaining RFA for the Flyers, who signed Wade Allison and Linus Hogberg yesterday.

Philadelphia Flyers Sign Wade Allison, Linus Hogberg

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The Philadelphia Flyers have finalized contracts with two of their restricted free agents, per a team announcement. The Flyers have signed winger Wade Allison to a two-year deal with a $785K AAV, and defenseman Linus Hogberg to a one-year, two-way $750K deal. Allison’s deal is a two-way deal next season and a one-way deal in 2023-24. These two deals leave Hayden Hodgson as their final RFA left to sign.

Allison, who will be 25 this upcoming season, was one of three Flyers second-round picks at the 2016 NHL draft, being selected by Philadelphia in that round alongside teammate Carter Hart and current ECHLer Pascal Laberge. Allison took a bit of a long route to the NHL, playing a four-year collegiate career at Western Michigan University before turning pro during the 2020-21 season. Last year Allison saw the most game action with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, scoring 17 points in 28 games.

Allison has struggled to stay healthy so far in his pro career, but when he’s played he’s shown promise. He plays a powerful game and has shown goal-scoring ability at every level he’s played at. On a Flyers team in desperate need of young players who can step up and become meaningful NHLers, Allison’s new deal gives him a chance to become a fixture in Philadelphia.

Hogberg, 23, was a fifth-rounder at the 2015 entry draft. Hogberg was an everyday defenseman in the SHL for the Vaxjo Lakers from 2016-2020, and came to North America to play with AHL Lehigh Valley in 2020-21. Hogberg made his NHL debut last season, skating in five games for the Flyers, and getting just over 17 minutes a night.

Hogberg’s eight points in 58 AHL games last season indicate that he’s not much of a scorer, but with this one-year deal he’ll have a chance to prove he can take the next step in his game and become an NHL option for the Flyers and new coach John Tortorella.

Flyers Add Ian McKeown To Organization In Health And Wellness Role

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  • Today the Philadelphia Flyers announced the hire of Ian McKeown to the newly created position of Vice President, Athlete Performance and Wellness. The Flyers state that in this new role, McKeown will “establish and oversee a comprehensive and coordinated health and wellness program for all players within the Flyers organization.” The health of Flyers players has been one of the numerous issues plaguing the team in recent years, so adding a new face in order to specifically address that issue is a good start for Philadelphia. The Flyers are desperate to return to contention after two difficult seasons, and a renewed focus on player health and wellness can do nothing but help them in that pursuit.

German Rubtsov Signs In KHL

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2016 Philadelphia Flyers first-round pick German Rubtsov has signed a one-year contract with Spartak Moskva in the KHL, per the team.

Rubtsov, a 24-year-old center, was taken 22nd overall in 2016 with the upside of being a high-end, two-way middle-six center. Things have never quite panned out for him at the professional level, though, as his AHL production had steadily decreased over the past few seasons. The Flyers dealt Rubtsov to the Florida Panthers as part of the Claude Giroux trade last season.

Down the stretch, Rubtsov had just one goal in six regular-season and playoff games with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. It wasn’t enough to convince the Panthers to issue him a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent this summer.

At 24, Rubtsov is nearly in his prime already. Although it is just a one-year deal, it’s extremely likely that Rubtsov’s chance at an NHL career, or even a career in North America, is completely gone. There’s always the chance that a move back home and a different system is able to help Rubtsov rediscover his game, but it would have to be a magnificent step forward for an NHL team to come calling for him next offseason.

Next season in Moscow, Rubtsov will join a Spartak team that’s made the playoffs for the past five seasons.

Ryan Ellis Unlikely To Be Ready For Season Opener

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After two straight nightmarish seasons, the Philadelphia Flyers are desperate to return to contention in 2022-23. Last offseason, the Flyers acquired defenseman Ryan Ellis from the Nashville Predators, hoping that adding Ellis, a veteran top-pairing defenseman, would revamp their defense and help out young goalie Carter Hart. Unfortunately for the Flyers, though, Ellis’ health issues limited him to just four games in a Flyers uniform, and the Flyers in his absence struggled to keep pucks out of the net.

Now, it seems Ellis’ absence looks set to continue. When asked by NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman if Ellis would be ready for the team’s season opener, Flyers head coach John Tortorella responded “I doubt it,” and elaborated that despite Ellis’ best efforts it’s doubtful he’d be ready to even participate in training camp. Ellis is currently battling what he termed a “multilayered” issue involving his “whole pelvic region.” While it’s definitely possible that Ellis returns next season and gets into games with the Flyers, Philadelphia spent significant resources this offseason preparing to survive without Ellis. The team traded for and extended Tony DeAngelo to presumably partner with Ivan Provorov on the team’s top pairing, and they also signed Justin Braun to round out the right side of their defense. The Flyers are likely expecting to eventually see Ellis back on the ice, but unfortunately it doesn’t seem like that’ll happen any time soon.

Flyers Sign Ryan Fitzgerald To AHL Deal

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  • After spending the last two seasons with Philadelphia on an NHL two-way deal, the Flyers have brought back forward Ryan Fitzgerald on a minor league contract, per a team release from their AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley. The 27-year-old was limited to just four games last season after undergoing surgery on both hips back in September.  The year before, he picked up 21 points in 28 games and a return to that level of performance could help secure him another NHL deal next summer.

Flyers Re-Sign Jackson Cates

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Aug 15: Philadelphia has made it official, announcing Cates one-year, two-way contract.

Aug 14: The Flyers have agreed to terms with one of their remaining unsigned players as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they’ve signed forward Jackson Cates to a one-year, two-way deal.  The contract will pay $775K in the NHL and $120K in the minors.

The 24-year-old played his first full professional season in 2021-22, splitting time between Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley of the AHL.  He played in 37 games with the Phantoms, picking up two goals and eight assists but was able to collect his first career NHL goal in 11 contests with the Flyers.

As Cates burned the first year of his entry-level deal in 2020-21 when he signed after his junior season with the University of Minnesota-Duluth, he technically wasn’t a restricted free agent.  Instead, he was classified as a 10.2(c) player (referencing the section of the CBA his contractual situation refers to); those players don’t have any salary arbitration rights nor are they eligible to negotiate or receive an offer sheet.  That didn’t give him much leverage in contract discussions although he’ll receive an extra $40K at the minor league level compared to his entry-level deal.

Cates has one year of waiver exemption remaining and it’s likely that he’ll start next season with Lehigh Valley once again where he’ll have an opportunity to play his way into a recall as the year progresses.

GM Chuck Fletcher still has some work to do this summer as wingers Hayden Hodgson and Wade Allison as well as defenseman Linus Hogberg are all restricted free agents.  All three saw brief NHL action with the Flyers last season and should agree to new deals over the coming days.

Ivan Fedotov's Trial Pushed Back To September 20th

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  • Flyers goaltender Ivan Fedotov’s hearing in Russia has been pushed to September 20th, relays Sam Carchidi of Philadelphia Hockey Now. He was arrested last month on suspicion of evading military service.  The 25-year-old signed a one-year deal with Philadelphia back in May with the expectation that he’d become their second goaltender following a dominant playoff performance with CSKA Moscow of the KHL but now, they won’t have him when training camp gets underway next month.

Philadelphia Flyers Extend ECHL Affiliation

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The Philadelphia Flyers have announced a multi-year extension to their affiliation agreement with the Reading Royals of the ECHL, keeping them together through the next two seasons. The deal also includes an option for the 2024-25 campaign. Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher released the following statement:

We’ve had an excellent relationship with the Royals for the last eight years and are thrilled to continue that partnership. We have put a big emphasis on the development of our young prospects and our club has seen the difference firsthand how beneficial it is to have not just one, but both of our primary minor league affiliates just a few hours away.

The Flyers affiliation system has been one of the most stable in recent league history, with both the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Royals in place for the last eight seasons (with the Phantoms much longer than that). While the ECHL club isn’t used for top prospects, Reading does have a history of helping the development of goaltenders in particular, with names like Jonathan Quick, Philipp Grubauer, and James Reimer, all among their alumni. In terms of recent Flyers prospects to go through the system, Felix Sandstrom and Max Willman are shining examples of how the low-minors can help nurture raw prospects and help their professional careers reach the next level.

The “closest affiliation chain in professional hockey” as the release states, the Flyers have immediate access to players for call-up situations and should be able to monitor progression even more closely.

Reading finished the 2021-22 season with a 45-17-9 record, though ended up losing in the second round of the playoffs to the Newfoundland Growlers.

Philadelphia Flyers Re-Sign Zack MacEwen

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6:47 pm: The Flyers have made the deal official (link).

4:59 pm: Another player has settled with his team before their upcoming arbitration date. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the Philadelphia Flyers and restricted free agent winger Zack MacEwen have settled on a one-year, $925K deal for next season.

MacEwen, an undrafted player, broke into the NHL in 2018-19 as a fast-rising member of the Vancouver Canucks organization. MacEwen made a successful transition from being a prolific junior scorer in the QMJHL to being a strong AHL performer. In his rookie AHL year, MacEwen had a healthy 33 points in 66 games. In his second AHL season, MacEwen reached another level, scoring 22 goals and 52 points in 69 games, a performance that earned him a four-game look at the NHL level, where he recorded his first NHL fight.

He got a longer look in 2019-20, scoring five goals in 17 games, before sticking in the NHL full-time in 2020-21, albeit with games missed due to COVID-related absence, healthy scratches, and a suspension. His performance in his first year on an NHL roster full-time – one goal and one assist in 34 games – was not the sort of impactful campaign many had hoped for based on MacEwen’s AHL success. As a result, MacEwen was waived by the Canucks at the start of 2021-22.

The Flyers put in a claim for MacEwen, and he ended up in 75 of their games. Philadelphia endured a brutal season last year, and MacEwen’s lack of productivity didn’t help. He had just nine points in 75 games, production that only lowers the odds of MacEwen ever translating his AHL numbers into secondary scoring at the NHL level.

But, with that being said, there are still things MacEwen brings to the table that the Flyers clearly value, perhaps even more so now that they’re under the stewardship of John Tortorella. In his limited ice time per game (under ten minutes last season) MacEwen can bring the sort of energy, physicality, and overall relentlessness most coaches want to see from their fourth liners. MacEwen finished the season with 159 hits, second on the Flyers after perennial hits leader Ramus Ristolainen, and had 110 penalty minutes, racking up quite a few fights.

If the Flyers genuinely want to re-shape today’s Flyers into authentic “Broad Street Bullies,” MacEwen is the sort of player who can help with that.

This one-year, $925K contract gives MacEwen the chance to stick on the Flyers’ roster for another year. The one major threat to his place in Philadelphia’s plans is the signing of Nicolas Deslauriers to a four-year deal. Deslauriers operates in a similar role to MacEwen, albeit with more experience and a bit more flair. It’s possible that the addition of Deslauriers spells doom for MacEwen in Philadelphia, but it’s equally possible that Tortorella falls in love with MacEwen’s style and finds a way to keep him in a depth role. Whichever route the Flyers go in could be entirely up to MacEwen.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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