Flyers sign 2016 1st-round pick, Swedish winger to contract extensions

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The Flyers on Monday took care of two restricted free-agent forwards.

The club signed German Rubtsov and Linus Sandin to one-year, two-way, $750,000 contracts.

Both will compete for jobs in training camp and be call-up options throughout the 2021-22 season.

Rubtsov, the Flyers' 2016 first-round draft pick, stayed on loan this season to play for Sochi of the KHL. He recorded 11 points (three goals, eight assists) and a minus-11 rating over 46 games.

The center turns 23 years old later this month. He made his NHL debut for the Flyers in November 2019 and went scoreless through four games with limited minutes during 2019-20. Rubtsov has long been regarded for his sound, steady game in the defensive zone, but needing to be much more aggressive in making things happen offensively. In 56 career games with AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley, Rubtsov has eight goals and 15 assists.

"He’s competitive, consistent," Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher said in October 2019. "Plays the game the right way defensively."

Sandin, a 25-year-old winger who the Flyers signed out of the Swedish Elite League in April 2020, is coming off his first season in North America. In 2020-21, he had 10 points (six goals, four assists) and a minus-8 rating through 26 games with the Phantoms. In 2019-20, Sandin finished tied for third among the SHL with 19 goals and scored 36 points over 51 games before joining the Flyers' organization.

Sandin is a complementary type of winger with bottom-six NHL potential.

"He has a strong stick, great release on his shot, really good from the hash marks down in the offensive zone," Fletcher said after last training camp in January. "The big thing for him is just adjusting to the pace and playing on the smaller ice surface, making quick decisions with the puck."

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The NHL free agency period opens July 28 at noon ET. July 26 is the deadline for qualifying offers to be issued to restricted free agents. The Flyers have 10 players set to become either unrestricted or restricted free agents:

Carter Hart (restricted), Brian Elliott (unrestricted), Alex Lyon (unrestricted), Samuel Morin (group 6, unrestricted), Travis Sanheim (restricted), Nolan Patrick (restricted), Andy Andreoff (unrestricted), Nate Prosser (unrestricted), Connor Bunnaman (restricted) and Carsen Twarynski (restricted).

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