July 15, 2016
Tom Mihalek/AP
Petr Straka (51), right -- seen here with Wayne Simmonds (17) and Nick Schultz (55) -- will be back in the Philadelphia Flyers organization this season.
On Friday, Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall announced that the team has agreed to terms on a one-year deal with free agent forward Petr Straka.
Straka, 24, was one of five Flyers restricted free agents who received a qualifying offer last month and is the second of that group to rejoin the Orange and Black. On Thursday, the team announced that Nick Cousins had accepted his qualifying offer. The other three -- Brayden Schenn, Jordan Weal and Brandon Manning -- all opted to head to arbitration, meaning their future with the team is still uncertain.
As for Straka, next season will be his fourth in the organization after originally signing with Flyers in 2013. Last year, his third with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Straka recorded 37 points (19 goals, 18 assists) in 64 games. And in his 192 career AHL games with the Phantoms, the Czech forward has tallied 88 points (42 goals, 46 assists).
Straka also picked up a pair of assists during a three-game stint with the Flyers in January of 2015.
The Flyers also announced the signing of their second-round pick from last month's draft, Pascal Laberge, to an entry-level contract.
The Canadian forward was selected with the 36th-overall pick -- the one Hextall acquired from Winnipeg by trading back in the first round -- and was the first of three second-round picks for the Flyers.
Laberge spent last season with Victoriaville of the QMJHL and recorded 68 points (23 goals, 45 assists) in 56 regular season games. He also played in the 2016 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game in which he scored two goals and assisted on a third in his team's 3-2 win. And while playing for Canada at the 2016 Under-18 World Championships, the 6-foot-1, 175-pound forward recorded four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in seven games.
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