Flyers reportedly make contract offer to Ilya Kovalchuk

Here's a strange Flyers rumor for you: according to EuroFlyer on Twitter and later confirmed in a Russian newspaper in a find by Ryan Bright of Philabright.com, the Flyers are one of a handful of teams that have made a contract offer to free agent forward Ilya Kovalchuk. According to the report, the Flyers, along with the Avalanche and Kings and team from the KHL, have all offered contracts to Kovalchuk and he is currently mulling over his options. Curiously, the Islanders, a team that is reportedly getting close to signing Kovalchuk, isn't mentioned at all in this report.

While there is some basis for this rumor since the initial source appears to be Kovalchuk's agent, there is almost no chance that Kovalchuk signs with the Flyers. While the Flyers do appear set to move Simon Gagne, they don't nearly have enough cap space to give Kovalchuk the huge contract he is after. In order to get in the 8 or so million dollar range that Kovalchuk is reportedly after, the Flyers would have to move another big contract, like Jeff Carter's, off the books. I just can't see them moving out two top-6 forwards just to bring in Kovalchuk.

Sure, it would be nice to have a 6-time 40 goal scorer like Ilya Kovaclhuk in Philadelphia, but don't hold your breath. While the Flyers might have made some kind of offer, you can bet it was not nearly enough to entice Kovalchuk; you have to wonder why the Flyers even bothered.