Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
One of the requirements to be a Philadelphia Flyers fan must be that you hate yourself. Or at least that’s how most of us feel after having dealt with the repercussions of many a bad roster moves at the hands of General Manager Paul Holmgren. This week the conflicting news about Dan Cleary and the Flyers has reminded fans exactly who our GM is.
It was reported late Monday that the Flyers had signed or were going to sign Dan Cleary of the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-year deal worth $8.25 million total. Then Holmgren announced that they had not technically signed the winger yet since they don’t have the cap space. The team did announce that Cleary was invited to their training camp as a Pro-Try Out, but then on Wednesday more conflicting news broke.
On Wednesday it was reported that there was some sort of complication between Cleary and the Flyers, and he would not be joining the team. Well it’s obvious what that complication is; the Flyers don’t have room in their salary cap to sign Cleary and they don’t want to part with any solid players that could give them the salary space they need.
However, good old Homer always has to have the last laugh. The Flyers GM told the press that Cleary is still coming to training camp as far as he knows, and the winger is still set on the team’s official training camp roster.
If you’re not a Flyers fan and you’re entirely confused about how this team’s management system works, welcome to our world. The moves that this team makes have been so baffling in the past that fans have stopped really listening to what Homer has to say. Especially after he told Jeff Carter he would be a Flyer for life and then turned around to trade him to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Right now there’s no word on what exactly is going on, but we’ll find out on Thursday if Cleary shows up to camp. Cleary not showing up wouldn’t mean the Flyers were missing out on much. It would actually be better for them, because that would free them up to invite Simon Gagne to camp and maybe even sign him to less costly one-year contract. It could possibly even allow them to give one of the rookies a roster spot.
Whatever does happen, there’s one thing for sure; this team always makes things interesting and we’re in for quite a ride this season.
Deanna Vasso is a Flyers writer for Rant Sports. You can follow her on Twitter, like her on Facebook and join her Google network.
