Flyers Land Bunting on $1.2M Deal Amid Winless Start
The Philadelphia Flyers have added a proven NHL scorer at a fraction of his former price, signing forward Michael Bunting to a one-year contract worth $1.2 million, the team announced Tuesday.
The deal comes as the Flyers sit 0-2-2 through four games of the 2026-27 season, having been outscored 17-5. Philadelphia entered the year needing secondary scoring, and Bunting arrives as a low-cost bet that he can provide it.
Bunting, 31, is coming off a three-year contract signed in July 2023 that carried a $4.5-million cap hit. He became an unrestricted free agent and settled for roughly a quarter of that annual number on a one-year deal.
Last season, Bunting recorded 14 goals and 33 points in 74 games split between the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars. His production dipped sharply after Dallas acquired him before the trade deadline — just two points in 13 regular-season contests — and he appeared in one playoff game for the Stars, picking up one assist.
The midseason move was nothing new. Bunting has now been traded during the season each of the past three years, a pattern that has kept him bouncing between contenders and rebuilding clubs.
Over seven NHL seasons with the Arizona Coyotes, Toronto Maple Leafs, Carolina Hurricanes, Pittsburgh Penguins, Predators, and Stars, Bunting has totaled 109 goals, 252 points, and 342 penalty minutes in 418 career games.
His best year came in 2021-22 with Toronto, when he posted a career-high 23 goals and 63 points and finished third in Calder Trophy voting as a 26-year-old rookie.
For Philadelphia, the signing is a low-risk flier on a player with a track record of scoring in the top six — and a chance to stop the early-season bleeding. Whether Bunting can recapture his Toronto form, or whether he becomes trade bait again by March, is the question that will define the deal.
Advertisement
You may also like
The 1969 Zodiac cipher that hid a name — until codebreakers cracked it
In December 2020, a team of codebreakers — including David Oranchak, a software developer, and two others — decrypted the second Zodiac cipher. The…
The bloodstained watch that tied a doctor to his wife's murder scene
The watch had blood on it. It was found at the murder scene, inside the Bay Village home where Marilyn Sheppard died on July…
São Paulo Hosts South America's First WTA Coaches Workshop in Historic Debut
More than 60 tennis coaches gathered in São Paulo last month for a first in South American tennis: an official WTA Coaches Workshop, held…
Booed Larkin Returns as Red Wings Host Senators After Trade Demand
Dylan Larkin is back on the ice for the Detroit Red Wings — and the fans have not forgotten. Larkin made his season debut…
Red Wings Fans Boo Dylan Larkin in Injury Return Amid Trade Request Fallout
Dylan Larkin's return to the Detroit lineup didn't come with any grace period. The moment the center touched the puck Tuesday night against the…
Nick Foligno Exits Wild Game Early With Upper-Body Injury
Nick Foligno lasted only 3:29 on Tuesday night. Across five shifts against the Buffalo Sabres, the 38-year-old Minnesota Wild forward managed a couple of…