The Flyers have spent the past year building out a contract sheet that looks better by the month, and the timing matters. With the new collective bargaining agreement taking effect Wednesday, Sept. 16, the NHL’s rush to lock in long-term deals before the old rules vanished sent teams scrambling on Tuesday. Philadelphia wasn’t part of that late push, but the club did get ahead of the curve earlier this summer when Danny Briere and Co. signed Tyson Foerster to an eight-year, $56.8 million deal with a $7.1 million AAV.
That move only sharpened the question: which Flyers contracts look like the biggest wins right now?
- Cam York: $5.15 million through 2029-30
York’s deal arrived last summer, when the defenseman was still a restricted free agent, and it gave the Flyers a cost-controlled blueliner for five years. His 2024-25 season wasn’t as smooth as the one before it.
After playing all 82 games in 2023-24 and averaging 22:37 a night, York dropped to 66 games and 20:47 per game the next season. That year also included a reported altercation with John Tortorella, which helps explain the dip in usage.
Philadelphia still moved quickly to keep him around, and York responded in his first season under Rick Tocchet by reestablishing himself as a reliable second-pair defenseman who can jump onto the top pair when needed. He got back to 22:32 per game and played 74 games.
- Travis Sanheim: $6.25 million through 2030-31
There was a time when the Flyers were trying to move Sanheim and his $6.25 million cap hit, and Torey Krug’s no-trade clause ended up keeping that from happening. Since then, Sanheim has completely changed the conversation.
What once looked like a burden now looks like one of the most important contracts on the roster. Sanheim has settled in as the anchor of the Flyers’ blue line, the kind of defenseman who steadies the game no matter who he’s paired with and lifts the player beside him.
He’s also earned recognition beyond Philadelphia. Sanheim was part of Team Canada at both the 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Winter Olympics. Over the last two seasons, he has averaged more than 24 minutes per game, scored a career-high 11 goals last year, and missed only five games across the last five seasons.
- Tyson Foerster: $7.1 million from 2027-28 through 2034-35
Foerster’s extension was signed on July 1, and even though it doesn’t begin until next season, it already looks increasingly sharp. The injury concern is real - he played only 29 games last season because of multiple arm injuries - but the production was hard to ignore when he was on the ice.
In those 29 games, Foerster scored 13 goals and finished with 17 points. Before an arm injury against the Penguins sidelined him, he had already put up 10 goals in 21 games. He also has two 20-goal seasons on his resume.
The contract looks even better because of everything else Foerster brings. He’s one of the Flyers’ strongest defensive forwards and penalty killers, and Natural Stat Trick had him at a +2.97 expected goals share relative to his teammates at 5-on-5 last season. There’s risk in any long-term deal, especially with the injury history, but he did return sooner than expected from both his offseason injury and the one that was supposed to end his season.
- Owen Tippett: $6.2 million through 2031-32
Tippett’s eight-year deal, signed in the middle of the 2023-24 season, drew plenty of questions at the time. It looks a lot different now. After scoring 27 goals in 2023-24, he followed with 28 the next year, then dipped to 20 before bouncing back with 28 again last season.
The streakiness is still part of the package, and consistency will always matter with Tippett. But when he’s rolling, he can take over games for Philadelphia. That’s why his $6.2 million cap hit has the feel of a bargain, especially with the salary cap rising.
You can make a case that Tippett has the best contract on the roster. The only reason he doesn’t top this list is that he still needs to show he can take that next step and keep it there.
- Noah Cates: $4 million through 2028-29
Cates sits at the top because this one already looks like a steal. He’s one of the league’s most underrated defensive forwards, and last season he delivered career highs with 18 goals, 29 assists and 47 points while mostly working in a shutdown third-line role.
The Flyers extended him last summer after he came off a 37-point season that more than doubled the 18 points he had the year before, even though that previous year came in just 59 games. At the time, it was a smart bet. Now it looks even better.
Cates doesn’t always jump off the screen, and plenty of his value lives outside the box score. But the Flyers felt his absence in the second-round series against the Hurricanes. With Cates on a $4 million deal and other core pieces locked in on team-friendly terms, Philadelphia has some real flexibility when it comes time for Matvei Michkov, Porter Martone and the rest of the young talent to get paid.
In Other News...
Flyers Camp Is Already Turning Into A Fight For Top-Six Jobs
Training camp has barely gotten underway, and the Flyers are already getting a clear look at how crowded the forward picture has become. Most of last years playoff roster is back, a few offseason additions are in the mix, and the early drills have carried the kind of edge that usually tells coaches plenty about who is ready to take on bigger minutes. Travis Konecny and Tyson Foerster were part of that competitive tone, then sat down together in a joint press conference as the team opened camp and started sorting through its top-six possibilities.
Foerster, in particular, enters camp with a chance to make his case after last seasons interruption, and Philadelphia is paying close attention to how he responds with a full summer behind him. The Flyers are evaluating their forward depth with the season ahead, and that makes every rep in camp count a little more than usual. When veterans and younger players are all fighting for the same spots, the early battles can say as much about the lineup as any depth chart written in September. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers May Have A Real Barkey Decision To Make This Season
Denver Barkeys path into this season has taken on a little more intrigue than a standard camp battle. After getting a look at center in a few playoff games last year, the Flyers winger has spent the offseason weighing whether a permanent move down the middle could make sense, and the coaching staff has been willing to entertain it. Rick Tocchet has been open to exploring the idea, which is enough to make this a real subplot as the Flyers sort out their forward group.
Barkey has already started preparing like a player who knows the conversation is serious. He has been studying video to sharpen the details of the position and plans to work with captain Sean Couturier as he tries to build more comfort at center. For a young Flyer, it is the kind of decision that can reshape not just his own usage, but the way the club thinks about its depth chart heading into the fall. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Prospects Are Making One Roster Battle A Lot More Interesting
The Flyers last training-camp scrimmage before the preseason game had the feel of a final audition, with roster players and bubble hopefuls mixed into a lively 4-3 Orange-team win over the Black team. Tyson Foerster, Danila Klimovich, Alex Bump, Helege Grans, Trevor Zegras, Oliver Bonk and Denver Barkey all found the scoresheet, giving the coaches plenty to sort through as camp turns from evaluation mode toward roster decisions.
A few of the younger names made the exercise even more interesting, especially Jett Luchanko and Matvei Michkov, both of whom stood out in the flow of the scrimmage. David Jiricek also drew notice with a strong performance in the kind of setting that can quietly shift a battle on the back end, and the Flyers now have one more reminder that their next round of decisions may be more competitive than it looked a week ago. [Read more 🡒]