The negotiations on a new contract for Jakub Voracek started on July 3, according to the recollection of Philadelphia Flyers GM Ron Hextall. Like most negotiations of that magnitude, it was a grind.

There were moments when Hextall wondered if a deal would ever happen.

“You’re like, ‘If they don’t budge, we won’t get a deal done,’” Hextall said when we chatted late last week. “It was a hard process, with both sides committed to getting the job done.”

About three weeks later, a new deal was announced. Voracek and the Flyers agreed to an eight-year, $66 million contract extension, a deal with a healthy annual average salary cap hit of $8.25 million.