Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Flyers fill out their roster by signing Jones, Cote

Amidst all the free agent signings and trades, the Flyers also found time to sign a pair of restricted free agents yesterday, defenseman Randy Jones and forward Riley Cote. Jones signed a two year deal worth 5.5 million overall while Cote signed a three year deal worth 550,000 per year.

These signings likely round out the Flyers roster, which, if the season started today, would look something like this:

Gagne/Briere/Hartnell
Lupul/Richards/Giroux
Upshall/Carter/Knuble
Cote/Metropolit/Downie

Timonen/Coburn
Hatcher/Jones
Eminger/Parent

Extras: Vaananen, Kukkonen, Thoreson (?), Kane

The Flyers have plenty of defensemen but they seem to be one quality forward short. Patrick Thoreson is listed as an extra skater because he has yet to sign with the Flyers, although he is a restricted free agent. Signing him, if they have the money, would push Cote to a lesser role, meaning he could suit up only when an enforcer is necessary.

Barring a trade, the Flyers appear to be done making moves this off-season. There is still a possibility that Derian Hatcher could retire, which would free up 3.5 million dollars to sign another player, but that doesn't seem likely at this point. What you see above is probably what your 08/09 Philadelphia Flyers will look like.

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