Cates, A Calming Influence, Settling In With Flyers

The player parking area at Wells Fargo Center is typically lined with relatively nice rides - some exotic, some relatively more mainstream, but still upper-echelon. Rarely does a Nissan Sentra make its way into the lineup, but that's what happened last season when Noah Cates arrived from the University of Minnesota-Duluth, where he had just completed his senior season. He needed a car, and that's what the rental agency gave him, so he semi-famously drove Ronnie Attard and Bobby Brink around in it for the last month of the season. It sometimes had staff wondering who left their Nissan in the player lot before realizing that yes, it belongs to a player.

But in a way, the Sentra kind of represented the kind of player Cates is - not flashy, but gets the job done day after day, is there to give someone a lift when a fancier version breaks down, and has absolutely no problem getting you through a storm.

"It's so impressive," said Travis Konecny, with a laugh, on January 2 after the Flyers beat Anaheim 4-1 in a game where Cates had two assists, setting up both Konecny and Joel Farabee for goals. "Beezer and I always laugh - any mistake [that we make], Catesy's always there for you to bail you out. So it's nice playing with a guy like that."

As the Flyers return from their All-Star break and start the unofficial second half of their season, Cates has settled in halfway through his first full pro campaign as the team's fire extinguisher of sorts, and although it's a very early and thoroughly unfair comparison at this point, has reminded some of former Flyers captain Dave Poulin. At the very least, Cates has been able to help take some of Sean Couturier's workload as the former Selke Trophy winner recovers from back surgery.

The thing is, Cates is a career winger. But he has thrived since being moved to center by John Tortorella - which is no small feat, especially doing it as an NHL rookie without any time to work at it at the AHL level. A center must be more defensively responsible than the wingers and must make sure to be in proper position to support the defensemen, among other things. Tortorella's been coaching longer than Cates has been alive, and couldn't think of another player who's made that transition more effectively than Cates has.

"I love playing with those guys," Cates said of Farabee and Konecny after the Anaheim game. "With Travis's speed, he's a little more offensive, I'll be a little more defensive, give them the puck and let them go. If I can give them some peace of mind and let their offensive instincts kick in, I'll try to make the reads defensively."

It has officially been one whirlwind of a calendar year for Cates, who was representing the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Bejing when they opened on February 4, 2022. It certainly wasn't something he was originally slated to do - the 2022 Games were originally slated to include NHL players, but right before Christmas, schedule disruptions due to COVID-19 caused the NHL to withdraw its players from competition. Cates was one of 15 collegiate players named to the squad, was made an alternate captain, and had the experience of a lifetime.

"That experience in Beijing, in the Olympics, was probably one of the top moments of my life and my career. It's been a crazy ride these last couple years, but I wouldn't change anything for the world. So many great memories this past year."

If it seems like Cates was drafted in a different era, well, he pretty much was. He was a fifth-round pick in 2017, drafted in the shadows of the Flyers holding the second overall pick in that draft and later making a blockbuster trade with St. Louis to acquire another first-round pick that landed them Morgan Frost. He then took one of the longest possible routes to the pro game, playing one more year with Omaha of the USHL before playing a full four-year career at Minnesota-Duluth, where he won a national championship.

Had he not taken that route, the ride he's been on for the last year may not have happened. Cates could have chosen to forego his senior year and sign with the Flyers in the summer of 2021. Instead, he decided to stay on, which opened the door for his Olympic experience and overall set him up well for a shift to the pro game, leaving him better prepared to do so than if he'd left as a junior. Somewhat ironically, his older brother Jackson ended up playing for the Flyers before Noah did, despite being signed as a free agent nearly four years after the Flyers drafted Noah.

"I think I was really prepared," Cates said. "A big part of that was to watch Jackson play pro hockey. Being done at Duluth, I was done there, I was ready to move on, ready to start my pro career. That was the biggest thing, that I didn't want to have any what ifs on if I could go back to school or what not. I wanted to be done there, finish my four years, get my degree and be ready for pro hockey."

The way Cates is going, it does seem the Flyers might have a late-round gem on their hands. He is one of only a handful of players from 2017's fifth round or later still active in the NHL this season; he's played the third-most games of anyone picked in those final three rounds, behind only Sebastien Aho and Morgan Barron.

So to this point, Cates seems to have followed a strategy that has worked for both him and the Flyers. The hope is that it continues, and he establishes himself as part of the Flyers' offensive core for some time to come.