Free agent Michael Bunting signs contract with new team!

The Philadelphia Flyers have not found the win column yet this season, and the front office is already making moves to shake things up.

On Tuesday, the club announced the signing of veteran winger Michael Bunting to a one-year contract carrying a $1.2 million cap hit. The Flyers are hoping the 31-year-old forward can provide "some spark" to their struggling lineup.

Bunting arrives in Philadelphia after a season split between two organizations. He spent the bulk of the 2025-26 campaign with the Nashville Predators, producing 13 goals and 18 assists across 61 games. A trade-deadline deal sent him to the Dallas Stars in exchange for a third-round pick, but he managed just a goal and an assist in 13 regular-season contests there. He added one assist in a single playoff appearance during Dallas' first-round exit against the Minnesota Wild.

Bunting's path to the NHL was anything but conventional. Originally a fourth-round selection by the Arizona Coyotes in 2014, Bunting spent the better part of six professional seasons toiling in the AHL with the Tucson Roadrunners. A 21-game audition with Arizona during the 2020-21 season changed his trajectory entirely, as he lit the lamp 10 times and caught the attention of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toronto signed him as a free agent, and the move paid off immediately. Skating on the top line alongside Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, Bunting erupted for 23 goals and 40 assists in 79 games during his debut Leafs season, a career-high 63 points. He followed that up with another 23-goal effort the next year, totaling 49 points in a full 82-game slate.

That production earned him a three-year, $13.5 million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes as an unrestricted free agent. Since inking that deal, however, Bunting has been something of a journeyman. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in March 2024, then shipped to Nashville in March 2025, and now lands in Philadelphia as a free agent.

The Flyers, still searching for their first victory of the young season, will look to get Bunting integrated quickly. Their next opportunity comes Thursday when they visit the Ottawa Senators.