Jordan Hall breaks down the Flyers giving Nick Seeler a contract extension and trading Sean Walker to the Avalanche for a first-round pick.
VOORHEES, N.J. — Nick Seeler is staying in Philadelphia.
The Flyers signed their "glue guy" defenseman to a four-year, $10.8 million contract extension Wednesday. The deal has an average annual value of $2.7 million.
The contract has a no-trade clause for Years 1 and 2, according to PuckPedia.com.
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Seeler, a team-oriented, defense-first blueliner, has been one of the Flyers' best on the back end this season. He leads the NHL with 184 blocked shots and owns a plus-15 rating while playing a career-high 16:58 minutes per game.
The 30-year-old has blocked four or more shots in 19 games this season. The Flyers have grabbed at least a point in 15 of those 19 games (13-4-2).
"We love what Nick Seeler has provided us," general manager Danny Briere said in January. "We thought he'd be a sixth, seventh defenseman for us and he has played way above that, he has played in our top four for most of the year."
Seeler is on the final year of a two-year contract with a cap hit of just $775,000.
NHL
He more than earned his new deal.
"Seels is that guy, I don’t know how he does it, but like, he’s got no fear when he’s playing," Travis Konecny said in November. "Big blocks big time of the game, makes big plays, offensively, too, he has been contributing. He’s just a guy that you want on your team. When the team may be down, he’s always there to spark the guys with a big block or a big play."
Because of his playoff-like effectiveness on a bargain, expiring contract, Seeler was a popular name leading up to Friday's 3 p.m. ET NHL trade deadline. But the Flyers, rebuilding in a playoff push, valued him highly.
"We have said that from the get-go, we're not looking to trade Seels," head coach John Tortorella said four days ago. "He's a huge part of the competitiveness of the room, that brings that room together. He's one of the true competitors that I've ever coached as far as how he handles himself."
More: Trade or keep Laughton? Soft sellers? Dissecting Flyers' outlook at deadline
Seeler has taken an admirable path to this contract extension. He didn't play hockey in 2020-21, when the NHL had a shortened 56-game season because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"I wasn't sure what my plan was when I took the year off," Seeler said in February 2023. "I just needed kind of a mental and physical break. A few months went by and started to get that fire and that passion back, that true passion for the game."
To get back in the game, Seeler signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Flyers and won a job in training camp for the 2021-22 season. Last season, he had to win over a new head coach.
In 2023-24, he has been a staple on the Flyers' second defensive pair alongside Sean Walker, who was traded Wednesday to the Avalanche.
The Flyers had to place Seeler on injured reserve Wednesday. They'll be without him for at least two games (Thursday and Saturday) after he suffered an injury Monday when he took a shot to the area of his left ankle and foot.
The club, at a crucial time, has gotten thin on defense. Jamie Drysdale and Rasmus Ristolainen are out week to week with injuries. Four of the Flyers' six healthy defensemen right now are 24 years old or younger in Cam York, Egor Zamula, Ronnie Attard and Adam Ginning.
"You've got some young kids on the back end now getting some time maybe in our next game here," Tortorella said Wednesday after practice. "That's the way we've got to look at it. You just fill it in and hopefully Seels gets back as quickly as possible."
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