Holmgren, whose team hosts Ottawa tonight, said he would not know until today if the Flyers would recall a player (Andreas Nodl?) from the Phantoms to replace Upshall.
"It depends on Metro," he said.
Metropolit has been improving and may be able to play tonight. If he cannot, there's also a chance the Flyers will dress defenseman Lasse Kukkonen and move him to the front line.
Holmgren said Briere was "coming along nicely" and would join the club in Vancouver on Dec. 30. He is not expected to be able to play until Jan. 2 (in Anaheim) or Jan. 3 (in Los Angeles).
Before Briere returns, the Flyers will have to clear about $2 million to fit him under the $56.7 million salary cap.
"We're looking at a lot of different things," Holmgren said. "There are a lot of different scenarios and I wouldn't rule anything out, but we're not at a critical point yet."
The Flyers have eight healthy defensemen - nine when the injured Ryan Parent returns - and there is a chance that someone will be traded to free cap space. Randy Jones ($2.75 million salary) is among the candidates.
Biron update. Marty Biron has missed the last four games because of the flu, and coach John Stevens said he would not decide until today whether the goalie would face defensive-minded Ottawa tonight. About 700 tickets remain for the game.
The Flyers had yesterday off, but Biron, Parent (recovering from shoulder surgery) and Briere skated.
If Biron does not play tonight, he would return Friday in Chicago, Stevens said.
Ottawa is just 12-14-5 and at the bottom of the Northeast standings, but the Senators scored a 4-1 win over the Flyers in the teams' Nov. 6 meeting.
Special-teams report. The Flyers have allowed at least one power-play goal in seven of their last eight games.
Conversely, the Flyers' power play is thriving; the team has scored 17 goals with the man advantage in their last 10 games.
