Briere on Upcoming RFAs: ‘We Haven’t Had Any Discussions’

The Philadelphia Flyers have four restricted free agents at the end of this season: Cam York, Morgan Frost, Noah Cates, and Tyson Foerster.

During his mid-season evaluation on Tuesday, Flyers’ general manager Daniel Briere said he had no update on the status of his RFAs. “We haven’t had any discussions on contract extensions with any of them at this point,” Briere said.

The Flyers only have one unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, Erik Johnson, so Briere said he is focused on the evaluation process for his RFAs.

“I mean, it’s ongoing evaluation on those guys,” Briere said. He added, “I would expect them to be part of the future at this point.”

It is not particularly alarming to hear, not at this point anyway. All four will likely get a qualifying offer, giving the Flyers a chance to match any offer given to the players if they even hit free agency. However, it is definitely worth noting that extension talk has not begun.

How Have the Flyers’ RFAs Prefromed this Year?

Morgan Frost

In 44 games this season, Morgan Frost has 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 total points and a +/- of -8.

In typical Morgan Frost fashion, he has seen a surge of points in the second half of the season, and that could partially be due to his line change. He now plays top-line minutes with Owen Tippett and Travis Konecny.

While the line may not last forever, Frost is producing and is tied for fourth in points on the Flyers this season.

Noah Cates

Noah Cates has been one of the teams’ biggest stories this season, earning himself plenty of responsibility and centering a very productive line for the Flyers.

Cates has 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 total points and has a +/- of +8 this season.

Cates has been a grinder this season, seeing time on both the power play, penalty kill, and critical late-game minutes. John Tortorella trusts him. While his future with the team seemed up in the air at the beginning of the season, Cates has likely earned himself a role on the Flyers moving forward.

Tyson Foerster

Tyson Foerster, one of Cates’ linemates, is another RFA for the Flyers this season. Foerster, like Cates, has 22 points this season with 12 goals and 10 assists. He has a +/- of -7.

The season started slow for Foerster, but he has been playing extremely well in all aspects of the game, really, since the first month of the season.

Since November 16th (31 games), Foerster has 10 goals and nine assists. That is 19 of his 22 points of the season. Foerster has shown great improvement from his first full season in the NHL and is only improving as he continues to play.

Cam York

In 34 games this season, Cam York has four goals and seven assists for 11 total points and a +/- of +1.

York has earned himself top-pair minutes, playing with Travis Sanheim for the bulk of the season. He has been playing excellent defensive hockey this season, a step in a different direction from an offense-first type of defenseman.

The defenseman is the second longest-tenured Flyer out of the pending RFAs, one season behind Morgan Frost.

Will They Be Around?

With all four guys, it would be pointless not to extend them a qualifying offer. I highly doubt any team comes in with an offer for any of the four that the Flyers would not be willing to match.

Barring collapse this season, I would be shocked if the Flyers did not give the Foerster-Cates-Brink line another run next season and possibly beyond.

With York playing on the top defensive pair, it is hard to envision a world without him in the Flyers’ long-term plans, especially since he is a left-shot defenseman.

The only one I have questions about is Morgan Frost. Briere acknowledged the Flyers’ need to upgrade their center depth and bring in a true top center. With captain Sean Couturier in the fold until the end of the 2029/30 season, 2024 first-round draft selection Jett Luchanko likely to join the mix next season, and the possible addition of a high-end center either through the draft or acquisition, it is hard to see where Frost would fit into the mix.

Unless they choose to only to get a center through the draft and let him develop another year before joining the Flyers, they will likely have a tough choice between Frost and Cates.