Seemingly, the only person who has maintained regular contact with Pronger is Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren, who said in a report last week that the two speak once or twice a week.
Last week, Pronger's nameplate disappeared from the Flyers locker room for the first time since he was traded to here from Anaheim in June 2009. His stall has since been occupied by rookie Harry Zolnierczyk. The Flyers have yet to comment on the status of his captaincy.
While the Flyers grapple with how to replace Pronger in the locker room - both in the near and long terms - the bigger question is how they will fill his void on the ice.
There are 42 days until the Feb. 27 trade deadline. And no player throws a wrench into the Flyers' plans like Pronger, who is in the second year of a 7-year, $34.45-million deal that carries a $4.92 million salary cap hit until 2017, when he will be 42 years old.
Since Pronger signed his 7-year extension when he was 35, the Flyers are saddled with his salary cap hit for the duration of the contract, whether or not he is still playing. The rule, part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, was put into place to prevent teams from circumventing the salary cap by signing aging stars to long-term deals for huge sums of money (to lower the annual cap hit) only to retire early in the deal.
Back in December, Holmgren said it was a "fair question" to ask if Pronger's career was in jeopardy. Now, more than ever, the Flyers are banking on the fact that Pronger will not hang up his skates.
