The Flyers signed defenseman Hunter McDonald to a two-year contract on Tuesday, checking off the last of their restricted free agents for the summer.
McDonald's contract is set as a two-way/one-way deal with an annual cap hit of $912,500 for the NHL level. His 2026-27 salary will fluctuate depending on whether he's up with the Flyers or down in the AHL with the Phantoms, but will then have a direct, guaranteed rate regardless of where he is in 2027-28.
McDonald, a former sixth-round pick from the 2022 draft, is a big and physical stay-at-home defenseman whose stock has risen pretty steadily within the organization through the past several years.
He posted an even plus/minus rating and six assists in 65 games with the Phantoms last season, then came up to the Flyers for that last regular-season game against Montreal in mid-April and looked comfortable skating with the team's other youngsters in what felt like a glimpse of the Flyers' near future.
McDonald's standout moment in that 4-2 win over the Canadiens was when he took a stride down the offensive zone wall to deliver a crushing hit that jarred the puck loose for forward Matvei Michkov to collect and then pass to fellow blueliner Oliver Bonk, who fired away for his first NHL goal.
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For that night, McDonald skated 15:11 with a plus-3 rating and his first NHL assist, which looked like it set the 24-year-old up for a chance to challenge after an NHL roster spot at Flyers training camp next month.
Bonk, 21 and a former first-round pick from 2023, and reclamation project David Jiříček will be looking to do the same, though, so there should be a healthy competition ahead.
Granted, that should be a good sign for the state of the Flyers' prospect pipeline, too.
The final rundown of the Flyers' RFAs from this summer and the deals they signed for:
• F Trevor Zegras: 4 years, $36.5 million ($9.125 million per)
• F Nikita Grebenkin: 2 years, $2.2 million ($1.1 million per)
• D Jamie Drysdale: 4 years, $26 million ($6.5 million per)
• D Hunter McDonald: 2 years, $1.825 million ($912,500 per, two-way/one-way)
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