After a four-season collegiate career at Minnesota-Duluth, where he served as team captain during his junior and senior years and won the NCAA national championship in 2018-19, Cates signed an entry-level contract with the Flyers and joined the team for the latter part of the 2021-22 season.
Cates made an immediate impression as a two-way winger who could be relied upon to generate forechecking pressure, play responsibly without the puck, and get to the net in the attack zone. Primarily playing left wing on a line with Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett, Cates posted nine points (5g, 4a) in 14 games.
Over the summer of 2022, Noah worked out regularly with his older brother, Phantoms/Flyers forward Jackson Cates. At their first training camp under first-season Flyers head coach John Tortorella, the play of the Cates brothers was the big story early in camp. That was especially true with Noah. Eventually, Jackson was assigned to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms but Noah became one of the few Flyers players in whom Tortorella quickly gained full trust regardless of the game situation.
In the ongoing absence of Sean Couturier, Tortorella decided in the latter stages of training camp to move Cates from left wing to center. He was not completely devoid of experience in the middle, but wing had always been by far his primary position.
What's more, Tortorella wasted no time in entrusting Cates with the heavy defensive burdens that had long been shouldered by Couturier. Cates routinely plays against other teams' top lines, even the game's superstars such as Connor McDavid or Sidney Crosby. He's on the ice extensively when it's late in a close game. He's a regular on the penalty kill and a part-timer on the power play.
"Nothing Catesy does surprises me any more," Tortorella said on January 28. "He is just a smart hockey player and he's a pro. One of the things I like is how he responds to situations. He doesn't get overwhelmed."
The switch from wing to center has lessened some of Cates' opportunities to get in on the forecheck. One of his biggest standout traits at left wing is that he's a very effective F-1 (first forward into the offensive zone, responsible for recovering the puck on a dump-in or pressuring the defender). The level of defensive responsibility he carries as the last forward to leave the defensive zone and often the first one to track back on the backcheck has also served at times to reduce some of his offensive opportunities.
Through the first 11 games of the 2022-23 season, Cates had only a single shot on goal (the game-winning tally in Tampa Bay in the third game of the season). More recently, however, Cates has had more chances -- and shown more willingness -- to shoot the puck. He was up to 70 shots on goal for the season after Game 59 in Edmonton on Feb. 21.
There was a brief spell in the first half of the season when Tortorella moved Cates back to left wing for a couple weeks. This was done in the hopes of jump-starting Cates offensively. However, before long, "Torts" decided to return Cates to center and keep him there.
"I want to continue developing Catesy at center," Tortorella said on Jan. 11. "You media.
