Flyers sign forward Jacob Gaucher to a one-year, two-way deal
Gaucher appeared in four games with the Flyers last season. Also, Rich Tocchet and others received votes for NHL awards.
The Flyers keep betting on Jacob Gaucher.
A pending restricted free agent, the centerman agreed to a one-year, two-way contract on Friday. According to Puckpedia, it is for $850,000 in the NHL, the league minimum.
Gaucher spent the majority of this past season skating for Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League. He hit the 20-goal mark for the second straight year and added 16 assists, with two of his goals coming while shorthanded and three on the power play.
Gaucher, 25, also played in four games for the Flyers; three in early November and then the last game of the season. He has played in eight total NHL games but has yet to register a point.
“It was a great experience last year,” Gaucher told The Inquirer in November of his first stint in the NHL the season prior. “Just a couple games and see how the game is different up here. You’ve got to play hard. There’s some strong guys out there, win your battles, play simple.”
Listed at 6-foot-4, 225 pounds by the AHL, the Quebec native worked on his game last offseason and was excited to show his growth.
“It’s a cliché, but get bigger and stronger,” he said about what he worked on last summer. “I think it’s a big thing for me, playing the fourth-line minutes. You want to move your feet and be in the O-zone, be physical, be a presence around the net and yeah, worked on it in the summer.”
Called a late bloomer by former Phantoms coach Ian Laperrière, Gaucher is a bottom-six pivot at the NHL level and signed his first NHL contract in December 2024. He was in his third season with the organization but had been on an AHL deal after being passed over in the 2019 NHL draft and spending the 2022-23 season with Reading of the ECHL.
Awards season
The NHL has announced several award winners, and though the Flyers will not be getting the hardware, they are getting notice around the league. All voting is done at the conclusion of the NHL’s regular season.
In his first year with the club, Flyers coach Rick Tocchet finished seventh in voting for the Jack Adams Award as “the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success.” He received three first-place votes this season and earned 27 points, with the NHL Broadcasters’ Association voting on the award.
Tocchet won it in 2024 when he was the bench boss for the Vancouver Canucks. Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper, who worked with Tocchet for the silver-medal-winning Canadians at the Olympics, won his first Jack Adams with 226 points, just three points ahead of Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff.
Noah Cates is starting to draw praise for his defensive work. The Flyers forward finished 11th in voting for the Frank J. Selke Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s top defensive forward. Among his 123 points, he received one first-place, six second-place, two third-place, 13 fourth-place, and 22 fifth-place votes. As voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, Cates was on this reporter’s ballot in fifth place. Christian Dvorak also received one fifth-place vote. Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki received the award.
Defenseman Travis Sanheim was among vote-getters for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, awarded “to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability,” as selected by the PHWA. He finished 23rd and ranked third on this ballot, primarily because he did not have a single penalty minute once the season resumed after the Olympics break despite averaging more than 24 minutes on the ice across his final 25 games. Of the 185 players who averaged at least 18:24 and played in at least 20 games down the stretch, he is the only one who did not take a penalty. Canadiens forward Cole Caufield won the award.