As of now, the Flyers have 48 of a possible 50 players under NHL contract. This does not include restricted free agent forward Jon Kalinski or goaltender Jason Bacashihua (whose reported signing has yet to be officially announced by the team but appeared in an NHLPA memo).

The Flyers put in a qualifying offer to Kalinski last month, and team sources said at the time that that the club was interested in having the 24-year-old compete to play a checking line role next season. Last season, Kalinski performed checking line and penalty killing duties with Adirondack. He did not receive a callup in 2010-11 but played in 22 NHL games in several call-ups during the previous two seasons.

If an agreement is struck with Kalinski and once the signing of Bacashihua (reportedly to a two-way deal paying $525,000 in the NHL and $125,000 in the AHL) becomes official, the Flyers would be unable to sign any more players this summer until they get down under the 50-contract maximum.

This is not necessarily as limiting as it sounds. I certainly expect that the club will find a way to keep a contract slot open for the likes of Sean Couturier, for example. Also, the club may invite an unsigned veteran free agent to camp as a non-roster player. Lastly, the current reserve list includes players who are waiver candidates (such as Michael Leighton and Matt Walker) and the team could still wind up making a trade (perhaps involving someone such as Sergei Bobrovsky).

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Coming tomorrow: Musings on Andrej Meszaros, Eric Wellwood and LeClair vs. Kerr.

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