The Flyers already have about $56 million committed to 2011-12 salaries. The salary-cap maximum - $59.4 million - is expected to rise next season, but there won't be enough room to sign all of the team's potential free agents.
A formula that factors expiring contracts into the mix leaves the Flyers with just under $4.1 million of "tagging" space, according to assistant general manager Barry Hanrahan.
The amount of tagging space must be greater than the amount of the salary-cap hit the Flyers will pay a player.
Because Leino is expected to sign a multiyear deal in the $2.3 million-per-season range, there is plenty of room for an agreement to be reached this season.
Leino, 27, is making $825,000 this season, with a salary-cap hit of $800,000.
Besides Leino, Brian Boucher, Sean O'Donnell, and Nik Zherdev can become unrestricted free agents after the season. Dan Carcillo, Andreas Nodl, and Darroll Powe are potential restricted free agents; the Flyers can match another team's offer and retain those players.
Flyers' good-luck charm
For the second straight game, Carcillo replaced James van Riemsdyk, who apparently has a groin injury. Van Riemsdyk is expected to return to the lineup when the Flyers resume their schedule Tuesday against host Tampa Bay.
The Flyers are 22-4-2 with Carcillo in the lineup, and 11-8-3 without him.
"My job is to bring energy, get the guys going, and bring hits," Carcillo said before Tuesday's game.
Carcillo, one of the team's most popular players, did not expect to miss 22 of the team's first 49 games.
"It sucks, big time, to not be playing," he said. "It's not something I thought I'd be in this year, but it is what it is. It's been a roller coaster, with ups and downs."
Carcillo, who negated a would-be Flyers power play with a roughing penalty early in Tuesday's game, missed Monday's practice to be with his mother in Ontario after she had double knee-replacement surgery. She is already walking, he said. "They're much more aggressive in Canada with the rehab," Carcillo said. "They push you a lot harder."
Carcillo scored on a rebound early in the second period against Montreal.
Breakaways
Because of the all-star break, the Flyers will not practice for the next five days. . . . The Flyers' Feb. 13 game against visiting Los Angeles has been changed from a 7 p.m. start to 3 p.m. . . . Tuesday ended a stretch in which the Flyers played nine games in 15 days. . . . If they want to add a player, the Flyers have about $1.94 million of acquisition space available, Hanrahan said. . . . Before the game, all-stars Danny Briere and Claude Giroux were given good-luck cards from youngsters who play for the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation.
- Sam Carchidi
