A couple days after number one overall pick Nico Hischier signed his entry-level contract with the New Jersey Devils, the Philadelphia Flyers got their prize in Nolan Patrick under contract today.
Nolan Patrick’s ELC is exactly like Nico Hischier’s. $925K base salary with schedule A and B bonuses. #Flyers
— Dave Isaac (@davegisaac) July 17, 2017
Nolan Patrick Signs Entry-Level Contract with Philadelphia Flyers
Patrick’s contract is the standard three-year pact that will pay him $925,000 per season and keep him in Philadelphia until 2020 barring any entry-level slides due to injury or lack of NHL experience.
The Brandon Wheat Kings standout was the consensus number one pick throughout the majority of pre-season rankings and overall 2016-17 season quarterly rankings. In 2015-16 he scored 41 goals and 102 points in just 72 games, adding 13 goals and 30 points in 21 WHL postseason games. He helped Brandon to a WHL title before losing all three playoff games in the Memorial Cup, notching just one assist in those three. He built on his rookie year in 2014-15 where he scored 30 goals and 56 points in 55 games before contributing in the 2015 WHL Playoffs with eight goals and 15 points.
This past season, a year in which Patrick was named captain, was a struggle for the 18-year old at the beginning considering his hernia surgeries that repaired at first the right side of his groin. Early in the season, a misdiagnosis omitted that the left side was also damaged. He only got in 33 games, scoring 20 goals and 46 points. This may have planted a seed of doubt in the mind of Devils general manager Ray Shero, who decided to go wth the rise of Hischer.
Other Changes Due to Winning the Lottery
General manager Ron Hextall must have great faith in Patrick, as it made Brayden Schenn expendable in a deal that netted the Flyers two first round picks, one of them being conditional in 2018, and Jori Lehtera. The Flyers selected Morgan Frost as another center to add to their pool with the 2017 first rounder.
Overall, however, the Flyers have to be happy with the prospect of getting one of the two considering that they finished with the 13th-best odds to win the Draft Lottery and shot up to number two. Patrick looks to resume skating this week and prepare for training camp.
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