The Flyers add reinforcements at the winger position.
The Philadelphia Flyers have officially made their first transaction of the 2026 offseason, signing one of their own players to kick things off.
On Monday, the Flyers announced that they have signed interesting winger prospect Ilya Pautov to a three-year, entry-level contract starting with the 2026-27 season.
Pautov, who celebrated his 20th birthday on May 3, was a 2024 sixth-round pick of the Flyers who scored 45 points in 46 MHL games in Russia's junior league in his draft year.
The 5-foot-11 winger is a raw but skilled prospect who made major strides this past season, jumping from the MHL to the VHL, Russia's second-tier hockey league, for the first time, scoring a goal and four assists in 25 games for Zvezda Moskva.
On the heels of that jump, the Flyers rewarded Pautov with an entry-level deal, which will presumably allow him to continue developing at the AHL level while starting to acclimate to North America and the culture and lifestyle here.
To that end, the Flyers also get themselves much-needed winger reinforcements for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, who lost Nikita Grebenkin, Alex Bump, and Denver Barkey to the NHL ranks last season.
Other prospects, like Noah Powell and Devin Kaplan, are still in the mix, but they are less dynamic and skilled than the rapidly improving Pautov.
It's also unclear if the Flyers will decide to re-sign veteran forwards like Phil Tomasino, Lane Pederson, Boris Katchouk, and even Carl Grundstrom, so Pautov will have the chance to prove his value right away.