Cates, 24 (9/28/1997), played 11 games for the Flyers last season, 2021-22. He recorded one goal, his first in the NHL, on Dec. 16, 2021 at Montreal.
The 6-0, 190-pound forward spent a majority of the 2021-22 campaign with the club's American Hockey League affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, where he recorded 10 points (2g-8a) in 37 games with both of his goals coming shorthanded.
He also appeared in four games for the Flyers during the 2020-21 season where he recorded one assist which gives him two points (1g-1a) in 15 career NHL games with an average of 9:29 of ice time.
A native of Stillwater. Minn., Cates turned professional after the 2020-21 season following three years at the University of Minnesota-Duluth where he helped the Bulldogs win the 2019 National Championship, and another appearance in the Frozen Four in 2021. He scored the opening goal of a 3-2 win over North Dakota, which lasted five overtimes, and became the longest game ever played in NCAA Hockey Tournament history, to reach the Frozen Four in 2021.
In three seasons at UMD, he posted 27 goals and 37 assists for 64 points in 96 games and was named to the NCHC Academic All-Conference team for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.
He is the older brother of Noah Cates, the Flyers' fifth round draft pick (137th overall) of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, who made his NHL debut this past season.
