The Flyers announced that they’ve signed center Jacob Gaucher to a two-year, entry-level contract. PuckPedia later reported that Gaucher’s deal carries an $872.5K cap hit and breaks down as follows:
2024-25: $775K NHL salary, $80K signing bonus, $85K minors salary
2025-26: $800K NHL salary, $90K signing bonus, $15K games played bonus, $85K minors salary
Gaucher, 23, lands his first NHL contract amid his third professional season, all of which have been spent in the Philadelphia organization on an AHL contract. The older brother of Ducks first-rounder Nathan Gaucher is now eligible for a call-up and counts against their 50-contract limit, which now stands at 45 with five open slots.
The 6’3″ pivot has stuck in the AHL with Lehigh Valley full-time this season after seeing action with ECHL Reading in each of the last two years. He’s broken out for 10 goals and five assists for 15 points in 23 games, leading the team in goals and ranking fourth in points.
The former captain of the QMJHL’s Baie-Comeau Drakkar is just one point shy of tying the 16 he had in 59 games with Lehigh Valley last season, his first in the AHL. Gaucher spent the entirety of 2022-23, his first professional season, on assignment to Reading, where he racked up 22 goals and 39 assists for 61 points in 71 games.
Gaucher certainly still qualifies as a prospect, albeit one on the older end – he was initially eligible for the 2019 draft. He’ll be a restricted free agent upon expiry of his ELC in 2026.