Flyers announce qualifying offers for five players

Before free agency officially begins next month, teams will start to take care of some of their restricted free agents. That comes in the form of qualifying offers. A qualifying offer is needed to retain the negotiating rights of a player. Teams have until June 30th at 5 p.m. in order to retain these players’ rights. The Flyers tendered a qualifying offer to five of their upcoming free agents while letting three of their other eligible players head to free agency without an offer.

There is also some more clarification in the Ivan Fedotov situation. The Flyers will retain his rights as the contract he signed last summer will be tolled and remain in effect for the 2023-24 season. There is not update on if he will be available to the team next season. He is expected to finish his military service this upcoming July.

Flyers make qualifying offers to five players

Among the five players that the Flyers will maintain negotiating rights with, three of them played key roles for Philadelphia by the end of the season. One made his NHL debut this year while the other spent the season in the AHL after opening the season on the NHL roster.

Noah Cates: $874,125

Cates entered this season looking to make an impact after debuting toward the end of the 2021-22 season. He scored five goals and posted nine points in 16 games. Making the team out of camp, Cates steadily became one of the players that John Tortorella relied on. He spent the season on both the wing and center, learning how to play the middle at the NHL level as he went. Appearing in all 82 games, Cates posted 13 goals and 38 points during his first full season. He will be looking to build on that as he becomes more comfortable in the league, though it looks like he’s more mature than his age.

Morgan Frost: $840,000

This was a make or break season for Frost. He needed to show the Flyers that he could play at the NHL level. He did that and more as he appeared in all but one game this season after playing in 55 games the year before. He reached career highs in goals (19), assists (27), and points (46). It was a much needed breakout season for him. Frost has always been a player that thrives off of confidence and he showed that even more this past season. When he was feeling confident, you could see it in his game. And he earned more trust because of it.

Olle Lycksell: $787,500

His first season in North America, Lycksell spent the bulk of the season playing for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL. There he posted 14 goals and 45 points in 53 games. Impressed with his play, he made his NHL debut and appeared in eight total games for the Flyers. He would record his first NHL point. Lycksell has grown plenty from when he was first drafted and it showed in his play this season. The next step for him will be translating that skill to the NHL level.

Ronnie Attard: $874,125

Spending four years at Western Michigan University, Attard stepped right into the NHL. He appeared in 15 games at the end of the 2021-22 season, posting two goals and four points overall. The impressive thing about him at that time was that he got better as the games went on. He was learning what he could and couldn’t do at the NHL level.

This season, however, he was left to develop his game at the AHL level. He did make the Flyers out of training camp as a reward but spent basically the entire season in Lehigh Valley. He put in the work, appearing in 68 games and posting 12 goals and 32 points. He should get a chance to earn a full-time spot on the Flyers roster next season.

Cam York: $971,250

It was not a strong start to the 2022-23 campaign for Cam York. Not making the Flyers out of training camp, he went down to the Phantoms to work on some things. He took it in stride, knowing that he would be back if he put in the work. He did just that, coming back to Philadelphia in December and appearing in 54 games. York registered career highs in assists (18) and points (20) as he stepped into the role of a top defenseman alongside now former Flyer Ivan Provorov. He was also able to learn from Justin Braun as well, someone he credited with helping him out when he first came into the league. York should be poised to have a big role on the Flyers next season.

The Flyers did not extend qualifying offers to Evan Barratt, Kieffer Bellows, and Wyatte Wylie. Barratt came to the organization in a minor league trade for Cooper Zech. He spent the season between the AHL and ECHL. For the Royals, he posted 26 goals and 50 points in 46 games. He signed to play in the DEL next season for the Nürnberg Ice Tigers.

Bellows was claimed off waivers from the New York Islanders and was never able to find his footing with the Flyers. He had just three goals in 27 games with Philadelphia, adding three goals and 12 points in 10 games for the Phantoms. As for Wylie, it seems as if the Flyers just aren’t happy with where his development has gone. He appeared in 45 games for the Phantoms, recording three goals and 10 points.