Last Wednesday, in addition to signing three free agents for the NHL roster, the Flyers also announced five two-way contract signings, negotiated by hockey operations vice president and assistant general manager Brent Flahr: Ryan Fitzgerald, Gerry Mayhew, Adam Clendening, Nick Seeler and Cooper Zech.
Depth Signings Add AHL Success, NHL Experience
The contracts are geared toward boosting the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms in 2021-22. In some cases, the players can also add NHL-level depth as call-up options in the case of injuries in the Flyers' lineup. Three of the five players have previous National Hockey League experience on their resumes, with a combined 212 games played in the NHL.
Here's a look at the five signees:
Ryan Fitzgerald (LW)
Fitzgerald signed a one-year contract worth $750,000 at the NHL level and $200,000 in the AHL. The Flyers re-signed the unrestricted free agent after a strong 2020-21 season in the AHL with the Phantoms. He led the Phantoms with 12 goals and was second in overall scoring with 21 points in 28 games. Fitzgerald will turn 27 on Oct. 19.
He is the son of current New Jersey Devils general manager and longtime NHL player Tom Fitzgerald. He is cousins with Flyers center Kevin Hayes, former NHLer Jimmy Hayes (Kevin's brother) and current NHL players Brady Tkachuk and Matthew Tkachuk.
Before joining the Phantoms, Fitzgerald spent portions of four seasons with the AHL's Providence Bruins after a four-year collegiate career at Boston College. He was originally chosen by Boston in the fourth-round pick (120th overall) of the 2013 NHL Draft.
Gerry Mayhew (C)
The Minnesota Wild organization, when it was run by Chuck Fletcher and Flahr, brought the undrafted Mayhew into the pro game after a four-year collegiate career at Ferris state. Small but clever and shifty, Mayhew has emerged as one of the upper-tier offensive performers in the American League for the Iowa Wild
His best season was in 2019-20, when he racked up 39 goals and 61 points in just 46 games. Mayhew, who will turn 29 on Dec. 31, parlayed his AHL success into an NHL deal with parent club Minnesota. He dressed in 13 games for Minnesota in 2019-20 (two goals, zero assists) and four games (zero goals, one assists) this past season. At the AHL level in 2020-21, he put up 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in 18 games. Overall, he has 178 points in 228 career AHL games.
Mayhew's deal with the Flyers is for one year, paying an $800,000 AAV on NHL end of the two-way terms. At the AHL level, the deal is for $450,000.
Adam Clendening (D)
A veteran of 90 NHL games for seven different NHL teams, Clendening has also played 370 games in the American Hockey League. At the AHL level, he's a two-time All-Star Game selection and a past First-Team All-Star (2013-14). This past season, Clendening was mostly on the Columbus Blue Jackets' taxi squad. He appeared in nine games for their AHL farm team, the Cleveland Monsters.
For his AHL career, Clendening has posted 243 points and often played at or near the top of the rotations. At the NHL level, he's mainly been a third-pairing guy when he's been in the lineup. He had 24 career NHL points (four goals, 20 assists). Clendening, who was originally drafted by the Blackhawks in the second round (36th overall) of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, will turn 29 on Oct. 26.
Clendening's contract with the Flyers is for one season, with a $750,000 AAV at the NHL level. At the AHL level, he'd receive a $400,000 salary.
Nick Seeler (D)
Since coming to Philadelphia, Flahr and Fletcher have often dipped for depth into the pool of players they drafted and developed while with the Minnesota Wild. The 28-year-old Seeler is another such player.
The Wild selected the left-handed defenseman in the fifth round, 131st overall, in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. At the NHL level, the former UN-O and University of Minnesota product has 105 games of regular season experience. He was a regular starter for the Wild in 2018-19, starting 71 games and spending the entire season on the NHL roster. The next year, he appeared in a combined 12 NHL games for Minnesota and Chicago.
A taxi squad player for Chicago throughout the 2020-21 season, Seeler saw no game action this year. He is a defensive defenseman with size (6-foot-1, 200 pounds) and some physical bite to his game. His one-year Flyers contract has a $750,000 salary at the NHL level, and $300,000 in the AHL.
Cooper Zech (D)
The youngest of the free agents signed last week by the Flyers, Zech will turn 23 on Dec. 18. His one-year contract carries an $837,500 salary at the NHL level ($800,000 base salary, $37,500 signing bonus) and $80,000 at the American League level.
An undersized puck-mover, Zech signed an AHL deal with the Providence Bruins in 2019 after just one collegiate season wat Ferris State (that year, he led his team in scoring). He started the 2020-21 season in Slovakia, playing for MHC Nitra until the belated AHL season began. When the American Hockey League was finally set to start, Zech returned to Providence.
Overall, Zech has played in 78 career AHL games, posting three goals and 22 assists. If neither Cam York nor Egor Zamula make the Flyers' NHL roster out of camp, the Phantoms' blueline options would consist of York, Zamula, Linus Högberg, Wyatte Wylie, Mason Millman, Clendening, Seeler and Zech.
Departures since last season: Derrick Pouliot, Nate Prosser, Tyler Wotherspoon, and Chris Bigras.
