Lost in the shuffle yesterday was an NHL contract, according to CapFriendly, for Hayden Hodgson with the Philadelphia Flyers, rewarding him for his strong play in the AHL this season and making him eligible for the stretch run. The deal is for the rest of this season and will carry a cap hit of $750K.
Hodgson, 26, has 18 goals and 29 points in 44 games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this season, playing on an AHL contract after spending parts of the last five years in the ECHL. The 6’2″ undrafted forward had some other NHL teams “sniffing around” on him according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, but he ended up signing with the organization he was already a part of. He will stay with Lehigh Valley for now.
An NHL contract means that Hodgson could get a chance to play with the Flyers down the stretch, but it also means that he will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season. He will be eligible for arbitration, though it seems more likely that the two sides would agree on another two-way contract ahead of time, if the team wants to keep him for next season.