The Philadelphia Flyers and newly acquired defenceman Mark Streit are closing in on a four-year contract extension according to multiple reports, though the Flyers say a deal is not done yet.
“We continue to have talks with Mark’s agent. Although there is nothing to report, we remain confident that we will get something done,” Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said in a statement Monday night.
Streit, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 5, came over in a trade with the New York Islanders last week.
Since the Flyers are currently over the salary cap limit, they must find a way to make room for the former Islanders captain — either through trades or buyouts — before an extension can be finalized.
It is thought that the Flyers would use a compliance buyout on Danny Briere, whose annual cap hit is $6.5 million, and would consider doing the same for struggling goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, who earns an average of $5.66 million per season.
Flyers will have to use one buyout and either another buyout or trade in next 2 weeks to get things in order…
— Tim Panaccio (@tpanotchCSN) June 17, 2013
Briere will be bought out. Bryz? Only if they can get the right goalie to replace him and right now they dont have a deal there.
— Tim Panaccio (@tpanotchCSN) June 17, 2013
The salary cap for the 2012-13 season was $70.2 million, but it will drop to $64.3 million on July 5.
According to capgeek.com, the Flyers currently have a payroll of over $75 million.
Last season, the 35-year-old Streit had 27 points in 48 regular season games and added five points in six playoff games.
