The Philadelphia Flyers made the right call, bringing in and later extending Garnet Hathaway.

Last month, the Philadelphia Flyers signed forward Garnet Hathaway to a two-year, $4.8 million contract extension. The Kennebunkport, Maine native had just completed his first season with the Flyers, but GM Danny Briere worked quickly to lock him up before his contract year.

Hathaway, 32, has given the Flyers precisely what they hoped for when they signed him during the 2023 NHL Offseason. The 6-foot-3 winger provided some offense in a bottom-six role in 2023-24, recording seven goals and 17 points in 82 games. However, he made his most significant impact with his physicality and tenacious style of play, setting new career highs with 132 penalty minutes and 326 hits (second in NHL).

Yet, besides giving the Flyers plenty of toughness and grit, Hathaway has also been a good leader for the Metropolitan Division club’s youngsters. With the Flyers rebuilding, they need veterans in these roles as mentors. Thus, prioritizing a Hathaway extension was an intelligent move on Briere’s end.

Hathaway should continue to be a crucial part of the Flyers’ bottom six and leadership from here on out. He is the kind of hard-nosed energy player that every club would love to have on their roster, and the Flyers are quite fortunate to have him locked up for the next three years at a reasonable cap hit because of that.