Jeff Carter's new contract is official now

From Kevin Tatum of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Jeff Carter didn't want to leave, and the Flyers wanted him to stay, so yesterday the club signed the center to a three-year contract worth a reported $15 million.

Read the entire story here.

This was the worst kept surprise in hockey. The agreement and terms of the contract were released a while back. This was just the official announcement. Seems like a reasonable agreement for both sides. Carter continued to progress last season as a solid two way centerman, and has proven his ability to play in all situations on the ice. His point totals should continue to climb as well.

Flyers looking to add defenseman via free agency

From Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

The Flyers are negotiating with potential restricted free agents Jeff Carter, R.J. Umberger and Randy Jones. Holmgren said he was hopeful of signing them but was not especially close.

He was close to signing Riley Cote, another potential free agent on July 1.

In addition to signing the Big Three, one of Holmgren's off-season goals is to add a defenseman. Brian Campbell, John-Michael Liles, Mark Streit and Mike Commodore are among potential free agents who could fit the bill.

Bolstering the roster and staying within the salary cap, which is expected to reach $55 million, will be tricky, but Holmgren seemed confident.

Read more about the Flyers off-season here.

The Flyers will most likely look to sign a second-tier defenseman via free agency. Their cap number currently sits at $48.2 million and they haven't even re-signed Carter, Umberger and Jones. Taking that into account, the Flyers may have to look at the trade route as their best bet at improving their defensive corps.

Paul Holmgren not too concerned about signing Jeff Carter

Quote Holmgren on Jeff Carter: "We'll get him signed," Holmgren said, flatly. "I have no doubts about that . . . I refuse to live in fear [of what other teams might do]."

Here is the full article by Ed Barkowitz of the Philadelphia Daily News.

My take: I like Jeff Carter as a player, but I wonder if the Flyers would match a high-price offer for his services. They already have centers Mike Richards and Daniel Briere under long-term contracts at big bucks. To match a Carter offer, would have them spending too much cash up the middle. Especially with their need for help on defense. If a team were to sign the restricted free agent to a deal about $4.5-5 million, I see the Flyers taking the draft picks as compensation and letting Carter walk.

Morning Musings

Here are the morning papers:

• The Wild played an uncharacteristically undisciplined game and fell to the Kings 4-3 in a shootout last night. Meanwhile, Wild coach Jacques Lemaire says that he has "extreme confidence" in Mikko Koivu right now.
• The Kings finally got their first win in North America writes Lisa Dillman of the L.A. Times.
• The Avalanche stormed back from down 4-0 and defeated the Flames 5-4 in a shootout last night. Avalanche forward Milan Hejduk missed last night's game with a back problem and is now listed as day-to-day.
• The Flames know the Avs got a few lucky breaks but as Flames' forward Craig Conroy said, "you make your own breaks." The Flames road trip was going to be labeled a complete success until they blew the 4-0 lead writes Jean Lefebvre of the Calgary Herald.
• Tomas Vokoun was tremendous for the Panthers in their 2-1 come from behind shootout victory over the Habs. According to Panthers defenseman Mike Van Ryn, the Panthers "had no business winning that game."
• Many of the Habs believed this was their most well-played game to date, yet they let it slip away; Red Fisher of the Montreal Gazette has the story. Coach Guy Carbonneau needs to improve on his communication skills with his players writes Pat Hickey of the Gazette.
• A rejuvenated Jeff Carter scored for the fourth time this season and led the Flyers to a 4-0 victory over Atlanta on Tuesday.
• The Thrashers are still without a single point to show for this season and they have already played six games.
• Unheralded Kent Huskins has turned himself into a consistent NHL defenseman in Anaheim writes Curtis Zupke of the Orange County Register.
• As Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe explains, Zdeno Chara is playing less than last season but is hitting more. Also in the Globe this morning, Dupont wonders if the Bruins are in on the Danny Markov sweepstakes. Over at the Boston Herald, Rich Thompson looks at the relationship between new defensive partners Aaron Ward and Zdeno Chara.
• With Chris Drury and Daniel Briere out the door, the Sabres have decided to abandon their "no negotiating extensions during the season" policy and yesterday they signed Jochen Hecht to a four year contract extension.
• Both of the Hurricanes off-season acquisitions have made terrific contributions so far this season; Luke Decock of the News Observer has the story.
• Hawks' coach Denis Savard has been very happy with his team's play so far, but is still reminding everyone that it is very early on in the season.
• The Blue Jackets have a number of players with groin injuries currently on their roster including Rick Nash and Fredrik Modin. Here are the Blue Jackets' projected lines for tonight's game versus Dallas.
• In order for the Stars to improve on their goal scoring output, Jere Lehtinen needs to pick up his game and nobody knows that more than Lehtinen himself.
• Ken Holland is looking to sign long-time Red Wings Kris Draper and Nicklas Lidstrom to extensions writes Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press.
• As Joanne Ireland of the Edmonton Journal tells us, both Andrew Cogliano and Sam Gagner are one-two in the rookie scoring race so far this season. The Oilers have remained positive through their early season slump writes Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun.
• As Jessica Hopp explains in this morning's Tennessean, when it comes to goaltending, it is all about the mindset.
• Until his stats are good, Martin Brodeur won't be taking a look at them. Brodeur will be in between the pipes for tonight's game versus Pittsburgh.
• The Rangers are working to gain consistency writes Don Tomasino in this morning's NY Post. It may be only a matter of time before youngster Marc Staal moves up to the Rangers' top defense pairing this season.
• Ted Nolan has decided to flip-flop Bill Guerin and Trent Hunter in the Islanders' lineup.
• After signing Randy Robitaille, Sens' general manager Bryan Murray says this acquisition does not end his quest to add a top-six forward. Jason Spezza is among the league leaders in points, yet the star centerman has not recorded a goal this season.
• Coyotes' rookie Peter Mueller was a healthy scratch over the weekend and is going to use the benching as motivation to play harder writes Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic.
• Darryl Sydor has admittedly struggled during his first few games with the Penguins, but he understands that it takes time to adjust to a new system and new surroundings.
• The Sharks appear to be planning their second home opener writes David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News.
• It looks like Jay McKee will return to the Blues' lineup for tonight's game versus the Blackhawks reports Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Dispatch.
• Lightining superstar Vinny Lecavalier, turned into a superstar off the ice by giving a more than generous three million dollar contribution to the construction of a new Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg.
• Darcy Tucker stood up for his longtime teammate Bryan McCabe to the Toronto media after practice yesterday. Lance Hornby sure doesn't hold back on his criticism of McCabe in this morning's Toronto Sun. Damien Cox of the Toronto Star says that the Leafs don't have an identity.
• The Canucks have demoted youngster Mason Raymond to Manitoba of the AHL.
• Joe Motzko could find himself playing alongside superstar Alexander Ovechkin writes Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.