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The Flyers sign restricted free-agent forward Jackson Cates to a one-year contract

The 24-year-old Cates, who played 11 games for the Flyers last season, is back on a one-year, two-way deal worth $775,000.

Jackson Cates will have a first chance to play with his brother professionally this year either with the Phantoms or Flyers.
Jackson Cates will have a first chance to play with his brother professionally this year either with the Phantoms or Flyers.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

The Flyers will officially have two Cateses when they head to training camp next month in Voorhees. The team announced Monday it has brought back restricted free-agent forward Jackson Cates on a one-year, two-way contract worth $775,000.

Cates, 24, will link up with his brother Noah, who signed with the Flyers on March 27 and played the final 16 games of the season. Jackson played 11 games last season for the Flyers, tallying his lone point on his first career NHL goal on Dec. 16 against the Montreal Canadiens.

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He spent the majority of the season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, scoring two goals and posting 10 points in 37 games in the AHL. Cates’ 2021-22 season ended prematurely after he crashed into the boards on March 5 following a collision while playing for the Phantoms. He was taken by a stretcher off the ice after the incident, which Phantoms coach Ian Laperrière called “scary.”

Cates has played 15 NHL games over the last two seasons after signing with the Flyers as an undrafted free agent on April 13, 2021. Before joining the Flyers, the Stillwater, Minn., native played three seasons at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, where he won an NCAA championship in 2019 while playing alongside Noah.

With Cates signed, the Flyers have three remaining restricted free agents: right wingers Wade Allison and Hayden Hodgson, and defenseman Linus Högberg. The Flyers tended offers to nine restricted free agents and have agreed to deals with forwards Morgan Frost, Owen Tippett, Zack MacEwen, Isaac Ratcliffe, Tanner Laczynski, and now Cates.

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St. Ivany released

The Flyers did not extend an entry-level contract to college prospect Jack St. Ivany, a source confirmed, making the 2018 fourth-round pick a draft-related unrestricted free agent.