Clearly, this is not how the Flyers envisioned things would turn out.
But if you go by public opinion, fans seem very happy that Dan Cleary deep-sixed the Flyers tryout offer and instead stuck around Detroit for two days when he was supposed to be in Philly, before finally signing a 1-year deal for a LOT less than what the FLyers generously over-offered him on a 3-year deal.
You might think GM Paul Holmgren was embarrassed but this - a player's word is his word _ but Holmgren actually took it a very different way. He credited Cleary for re-signing with a club he feels an affection for.
"When I thought we had him coming on the tryout, he was still, ‘I’ll be there tomorrow,'" Holmgren said at his afternoon presser on Thursday.
"I don’t know what happened there, I can’t speak to that, but I got voicemail message from him this morning, and a text message. One of the things that makes him a good player is he’s a character guy and obviously he had deep roots to the Red Wings organization, and I can’t fault him for that. Actually, I probably think more highly of him now than I did two days ago.
"I heard from Dan’s agent late last night that he had just decided to stay with Detroit. I think they, at the end, from what I understand, had offered him a contract and he was open to accept that and that’s the reason he’s not here on a tryout."
Did you feel slighted?
"I had a couple conversations with Dan leading up to even two days ago, when he had agreed to come on a tryout, I knew that he wanted to be in Detroit, he was hanging around all summer, and things worked out, so good for him," Holmgren replied.
"He had eight years there and was hoping to continue his ride with the Red Wings, and that’s good for him."
Now here's the rub. None of this would have happened had the Flyers had some cap space. Then they could have signed Cleary and he he likely would have taken their money which was more than a million more than the $1.75 he got for one year in Detroit.
The catch with the Flyers was ... that contract could not be signed until Oct. 1 when the Flyers will become cap compliant with roster moves. Cleary had a lesser offer right now to sign instead of waiting for a contract that could have fallen through off the tryout or later, who knows.
Bottom line, that extra year the Flyers were giving Cleary is now a moot point. He's back in Detroit.
Personally, I like the idea of getting another younger player - Tye McGinn or Michael Raffl. I can't see Raffl making the jump from a European minor league to the NHL in one year but I do see McGinn now as the 14th forward.
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