The Philadelphia Flyers have finally closed the book on their restricted free agents, and Hunter McDonald is the last one to get a new deal.
The team announced Tuesday afternoon that it signed the 24-year-old left-shot defenseman to a two-year contract. The Flyers said the deal carries an average annual value of $912,500, and because of that cap hit, it won’t affect the club’s cap picture if McDonald is assigned to the AHL.
It’s a two-way setup for the first year, then it shifts to a one-way contract in the second. In practical terms, that means McDonald will earn a different salary in the AHL than he would in the NHL during the two-way portion, while the one-way year pays the same salary regardless of league. The Flyers did not disclose his AHL salary for the coming season.
With McDonald signed, the Flyers are done with the offseason business they needed to handle.
McDonald’s NHL résumé is still tiny - he made his debut in Game 82 last season and picked up an assist - but the organization has clearly had him on its radar for a while. Danny Briere and Keith Jones have mentioned him in past years as one of the prospects worth watching, and there’s been an idea that his size and physical style could eventually give the Flyers another look on the back end.
Still, the production hasn’t really taken a leap. McDonald had six assists in 65 games for the Phantoms last season, and his scoring rate dipped from the 2024-25 season. He spent much of the year alongside top defensive prospect Oliver Bonk, but there hasn’t been much to suggest he’s already on track to become a long-term NHL piece.
At 24, with nearly 150 AHL games behind him, McDonald looks more like a possible late-blooming depth defenseman than a sure thing. The best-case path seems pretty clear: maybe he grows into a bottom-pair option, the kind of player who can fill in if injuries hit and the Flyers need another body, much like Nick Seeler. That’s the bet here, and next season will tell us whether McDonald can take a step and become a call-up option when the Flyers need one.
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