Noah Cates has signed a new contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Why do bridge contracts at this stage? No point doing that

Be ready for an accepted qo and free agent in 2026 if torts stays

More money to be had after the cap increase.

You would rather go long term? That makes no sense to me...

Fair deal, Could've seen a value deal where Cates gets a more expensive version of a Laughton deal, but I can see why both decided not too. Thankful that he will expire as an RFA again.

?? Torts loves Cates, literally his favorite player on the team, he played Cates as our 1C majority of the year. What's your point?

Aint this the guy with crazy defensive metrics. W signing

I think that's just right for him.

Great contract for both sides. I think Cates will get better and he had a good first full season

This player is excellent defensively provides enough offensive skill to not hurt his team.

This is a fantastic deal for the Flyers, Cates flew under the radar last season. So underrated

If he plays anything like he did last year, it’s a huge steal for Flyers. Good deal.

Solid contract, if he can get his faceoff percentage up like 10-15% he'll be a selke nominee lock.

A lot of things have gone wrong in PHI, but this is definitely one of the few bright spots. Late bloomer, kid could be a good 2C long-term.

I’m not talking specifically about Cates, but considering the number of long-term contracts that don’t age well and players who flare out after one good season, I think bridge contracts are a good way for teams to manage short-term cap space and long-term risk. They save money in the short term because young players usually want more AAV to sign long term, and although they often have to give him big money and term on his next contract, by then the cap has probably gone up, and the player has been around long enough to have shown that he’ll probably be worth it, but he’s still young enough that you won’t have to commit to a bunch of his declining years to keep him.

Unless you’re a team that has difficulty keeping players, getting stuck with a bad contract will usually hurt you more than going short-term on a good player.