Robert Hagg signs two-year contract with Flyers

Check another free agent off the list as the Flyers have re-signed defenseman Robert Hagg.

The pieces for next season are beginning to come together. After signing Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Alex Lyon, the Flyers have added another one to their list. Late Monday morning, the team announced that they have signed Robert Hagg to a two-year contract. With not much cap space to go around, Chuck Fletcher was able to bring back Hagg on a very cheap deal.

During the next two years, Hagg’s cap hit will only be $1.6M. With a cap that will be staying put for at least the next few seasons, bringing him back on that kind of deal allows the Flyers to focus on other things. It is a slight raise from the 1.15M he was making during his last two-year contract. A qualifying offer likely would’ve been an increase as well and Hagg could’ve taken them to arbitration if it came down to it.

Now, they will still need to shed some kind of salary, especially needing to lock up Philippe Myers. It will depend on whether or not they want to bank on his being a future star or bridge him to see what happens. And they will soon have deals coming for Travis Sanheim and Carter Hart. This is where the long-time rumors of Shayne Gostisbehere‘s trade could finally come into play. This offseason is truly the first time where it feels like the Flyers will actually pull the trigger on a trade.

Gostisbehere and Hagg fought the entire season between being the sixth and seventh defensemen. Hagg was likely getting re-signed based on how much the team values him, but this isn’t the news Gostisbehere wanted to hear. If he remains, it is likely another fight to get into the lineup with a lot of players ahead of him.

He could also be looking for a fresh start at this point. His contract isn’t too much for a team to take on, just a $4.5M contract for the next three seasons. And it could do him some good after the tough few years he’s had in Philadelphia.

But for Hagg, this shows that the team has a little more faith in him to continue doing what he does best. He won’t wow you with flashy plays on the backend, but he has been steady since joining the team full-time in 2017. And that is what you need with a bottom-pair defenseman.