Less than 24 hours after Noah Cates appeared in his last collegiate hockey game, the Flyers have signed him to an entry-level contract. The two-year deal will kick in this season, meaning Cates is expected to make his NHL debut as early as Tuesday. He will be meeting the team in Minnesota ahead of their matchup with the Wild.
OFFICIAL: We have signed forward Noah Cates, the club's fifth-round pick (137th overall) in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, to a two-year entry-level contract that will begin this season (2021-22). https://t.co/VTzyppAv6n
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) March 27, 2022
Cates and Minnesota-Duluth, took on Bobby Brink and the Denver Pioneers on Saturday evening for a trip to the Frozen Four. Philadelphia is expected to make a push to sign Brink once his season is over as well. The Flyers drafted Cates with their fifth round pick in 2017.
Jackson Cates, brother of Noah, signed with the Flyers last year and has appeared in 11 career games in the NHL. He scored his first NHL goal back in December. So Cates will have a familiar face in the organization, though his older brother is currently with the Phantoms.
In four years with Minnesota, Cates recorded a total of 39 goals and 99 points in 139 games. He helped the Bulldogs win the 2019 National Championship and has been the captain for the last two season. This past year, Cates posted 11 goals and 24 points. He also skated for Team USA at the Olympics as an alternate captain. He grabbed one goal in four games.
Cates also represented the United States at the 2019 World Junior Championships. In seven games, he recorded one goal and three points over as the U.S. won the silver medal. He was teammates with current Flyer Joel Farabee.
The Flyers were certainly eager to get Cates under contract as they had tried to get him to sign his ELC before his senior season. But now they’ll have him in the fold and on NHL ice in just a few days. It remains to be known if he will make his debut in Minnesota. There is likely a good chance, though, as the team would be returning to Philadelphia after that game.
They could just want him to get acquainted with the team as soon as possible, but time will tell what happens there. This is the time of the season where the Flyers will be auditioning some of their younger prospects to see what they have. Expect to see some more collegiate signings as the NCAA seasons wind down. Players such as Brink and Ronnie Attard could be next on the list.