‘I’d love to be here forever’: Flyers ink Noah Cates and Tyson Foerster to contract extensions

Photo Credit: The Canadian Press

In the span of a week, Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere handed out contract extensions to two of his biggest restricted free agents. On May 29, the Flyers re-signed forward Tyson Foerster to a two-year, $3.75 million contract, and on June 3, the Flyers re-signed forward Noah Cates to a four-year, $4 million contract.

Foerster’s deal will serve as a bridge contract for the team and the player. The two-year contract extension allows the Flyers to keep Foerster’s restricted free agent rights when his new deal expires following the 2026-27 National Hockey League season.

“I’d love to be here forever,” said Tyson Foerster during his exit interview. “I love it here. It’s great to play here, and the guys are great. I just want to get better every day, so it could be a short-term deal, could be long-term, but whatever it is, I’m happy to be here.”

The 23-year-old was selected in the first round (No. 23 overall) in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft out of the Barrie Colts in the Ontario Hockey League. During his first few seasons, Foerster spent time between the Colts and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Flyers. Foerster was an AHL All-Star in the 2022-23 season, posting 20 goals and a team-high 48 points in 66 games.

Foerster brought his scoring touch from the AHL to the NHL during his first full season with the Flyers in 2023-24. As a rookie, Foerster was the team’s fourth-leading goal scorer with 20.

After a strong rookie campaign, the Alliston, Ontario, Canada native continued to improve, recording 43 points (25 goals and 18 assists) in 81 games. Despite a slow start to the season, where Foerster scored just four goals in the first 20 games, once he got going, it was full steam ahead. Foerster scored nine goals in the final nine games of the season, including his first career hat trick in an 8-5 win over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

“At the start of the year, I struggled again. I’ve got to start figuring that out, for sure,” Foerster said. “Coming down the stretch, I think I was playing really well, my linemates really helped me with that.”

His impressive finish to the regular season landed him a spot on Team Canada at the 2025 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship. He played in seven of the team’s eight games, scoring twice and adding an assist.

Foerster partnered with Cates and forward Bobby Brink on the Flyers’ third line this season. Once put together, the line of Foerster-Cates-Brink was one of the best in the league. For lines that had a minimum of 500 minutes played, the trio ranked second in expected goal percentage (58.3 %) and first in expected goal against (20.6).

“A lot of parts of our games complemented each other,” said Noah Cates. “Bobby has such an elite offensive mind. Tyson’s got a big frame, obviously, his shots, and his stick defensively. A lot of factors went into helping each other out. Playing hard for each other was the biggest thing. I can’t say enough good things about those guys, and the things that they provided for our line that maybe I lacked, and maybe things I helped them with, so I think complimenting each other was big, but playing hard for each other is something you can’t replicate.”

That brings us to the center of Foerster’s line, Cates, who showed significant strides in his development this season, becoming one of the more underrated two-way centers in the league.

In 77 games, the 26-year-old posted a career-high 16 goals and 21 assists for 37 points, one shy of tying the best mark of his four-year NHL career. Like Foerster, Cates got off to a slow start offensively this season. It took him 17 games to score his first goal, and he was even a healthy scratch for four of the first five games. Cates ultimately found his groove, centering one of the top lines in hockey and finding the back of the net more often. Even when he wasn’t scoring, the defensive part of his game and the success of his linemates made up for it.

In his four seasons with the team, Cates has 40 goals and 62 assists for 102 points in 235 games. His new contract keeps him in Philadelphia for another four years, with Cates becoming an unrestricted free agent following the 2028-29 NHL season. In his exit press conference, Cates noted that he and the team had been having contract extension conversations throughout the season and that he wanted to stay with the team on a long-term deal.

“I’m not worried about anything,” Cates said during his exit interview. “Obviously, very exciting that they are talking about it, and that process is going. After a good season, it feels really good going into the summer, and I’m very excited for my future and the future of this team.”

Cates has alternated between wing and center throughout his career, but looks to have established himself as a center going forward. He won a career-high 493 faceoffs this season and posted a 44.6 faceoff percentage, also the best of his career.

The Flyers selected Cates in the fifth round (No. 137 overall) of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. Cates spent four seasons with the University of Minnesota-Duluth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. In 139 games with the Bulldogs, the Stillwater, Minnesota native recorded 39 goals and 60 assists for 99 points. As a freshman, Cates won the NCAA Frozen Four National Championship and served as a captain during his junior and senior seasons.

He has also represented the United States at the 2018-19 Under-20 World Junior Championship and at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, serving as an alternate captain.

With the NHL’s salary cap rising, the Flyers struck gold with the extensions of Cates and Foerster, as they continue to construct a roster built for competing with the league’s best.