Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere reiterated at the NHL Draft this past weekend that he did not expect to be especially active on the first day of free agency on July 1.

But that didn’t mean he planned to be completely idle. There were still a few pieces of internal business in need of resolution: namely, the status of pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Erik Johnson.

Before the 12 PM EST opening bell, that was resolved.

A team source confirmed to PHLY that the 36-year old Johnson has agreed to a new one-year contract with the Flyers worth $1.0 million. The expectation is that Johnson will serve as a bottom-of-the-lineup/depth defenseman, in the role vacated by Marc Staal, who appeared in 35 games for the club in 2023-24.

Johnson was acquired by Briere at the trade deadline in March for a 2024 fourth-round pick in response to a deluge of injuries on the back end (and the trade of Sean Walker to Colorado. He appeared in 17 games for the club after the deadline, finishing with two goals and one assist. Johnson also is just 13 games away from reaching the 1,000-game mark in his NHL career, and presumably — barring injury — he’ll reach it with the Flyers.

Expect a deeper dive on the reasoning and implications of the re-signing for PHLY Diehard members coming soon.