Moments ago the official Carolina Hurricanes Twitter account broke the news that defenseman Tim Gleason (29yrs of age) has signed an extension worth $16-Million, 4yrs.
Up until this point it was widely speculated that our Flyers were interested in acquiring Gleason via trade as a Plan B had their initial interest, Ryan Suter (D) - NSH, gone off the market.
Days ago, Ryan Suter announced he was not interested in signing any sort of extension past this league year because it could prove to be a "distraction". He is currently on the final year of his contract and is up for an extension come after his final game of the 2011-12 season. This eliminated a lot of hope of obtaining Suter prior to the trade deadline (27-Feb) because it wouldn't be worth giving up a lot of fire power and/or future Draft picks for a potential 2011-12 loaner.
Gleason's on the final year of his current 4yr, $11-Million contract. He's a steady #3 or 4 blue liner with a lot of physical power which the Flyers are interested in adding to their defense for the remaining stretch of schedule. Though there's tons of talent on our blue line already, Philadelphia's missing a key brute to clear the goalie's front door step.
Tim is a true defensive defenseman who would have done well with our group of guys.
Now, I cannot help but wonder if this signing by Carolina was in order to get a higher return on Gleason through a trade. Though Tim's extension has a No-Trade clause incorporated with its first two years, the extension still does not begin until next league year. His current contract doesn't have such a clause on it.
Take that with a grain of salt. I haven't heard anything to support that feeling. It's just what it is....a feeling.
Back to the drawing board for GM Paul Holmgren.
Now that it seems Gleason's out of reach, TSN's Darren Dreger reports that the signing may apply the trade focus on Carolina d-men like Bryan Allen (31yrs of age) and Joni Pitkanen (28yrs of age).
Per Dreger,
Pitkanen is sidelined with concussion symptoms and knee surgery and is expected to play the first week of March, per CBS Sports.
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