The Philadelphia Flyers have signed Nicolas Aube-Kubel to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2019-20 season. Aube-Kubel will earn $700K at the NHL level and still qualify as a restricted free agent next summer.
The 23-year old forward was selected in the second round of the 2014 draft and finally made his NHL debut last season. Playing in nine games he unfortunately was held scoreless, but still received a taste of what it’s like at the highest level. The former QMJHL star has had some solid success in the minor leagues over his three-year professional career, but has a lot of work to do in order to crack the Flyers’ lineup on a full-time basis.
Philadelphia brought in Kevin Hayes, Tyler Pitlick and Kurtis Gabriel this offseason to lengthen out their NHL group, but also have a huge number of top prospects ready to burst onto the professional scene. Aube-Kubel is clearly behind the top names like Morgan Frost and Isaac Ratcliffe, and has plenty of others to deal with as he tries stay significant in the organization. He is no longer waiver-exempt meaning he very well could get a shot as the extra forward out of camp, but more likely is he spends more time at the minor league level and waits for his next opportunity.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel has parents with a sneaky sense of humor. Nicolas = “Nick” (or Nic, if you prefer). His initials are N.A-K. Nick-Nak. We now resume our regularly-scheduled programming… ;)