For young Flyers prospect Jackson Cates, Flyers Developmental Camp in 2019 was unlike any other camp he participated in. Many do not know that he attended the Minnesota Wild’s Developmental Camp in 2018-19. He left quite the impression on the Flyers top brass, however, so much so, they signed Jackson Cates to a two-year ELC worth an AAV of $925,000 a few weeks ago, and he made his NHL debut last night.
Losing isn’t easy, but Jackson will remember his first NHL game for the rest of his life, “Feels nice to get my first game in and get going,” Jackson said following the game.
This young up and coming prospect in Jackson Cates was born on September 28, 1997, in Stillwater, Minnesota. Cates chose to stay close to home to attend the University of Minnesota Duluth, following his great playing days at Stillwater High School, where he amassed 20 goals and 33 assists in 25 games played in 2015-16.
The young Bulldogs product in Jackson Cates become quite the stud with the Bulldogs, where he has amassed 27 goals, and 37 assists for a total of 64 points in 96 games played. It appears he has continued his success from the 2019 season, as he won a National Championship in his freshman season.
Cates is a great skater, and he showcased that in his debut. He looked very nervous on edge through the first period of play, but he settled in nicely, and quite frankly played well. He even had a scoring chance, as he finished the game with three shots on net. Moreover, he went 5-8 from the faceoff dot (62.5%), and logged 11:19 of ice time.
Did Jackson impress enough to earn another look by the Flyers on Sunday? Well that remains to be seen, but he had a solid NHL debut, and that is something no one can ever take from him.
