Ryan Parent

The Flyers will have some decisions to make this offseason. They have some flexibility given the development of their young players. UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS Mike Knuble Marty Biron Antero Niittymaki Andrew Alberts Josh Gratton Boyd Kane Lasse Kukkonen RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS Nate Raduns Nate Guenin Danny Syvret Jared Ross PROMISING ROOKIES Claude Giroux Luca Sbisa ...

Kurtis McClean's goal with a minute and nine seconds left to play enabled the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins to edge the Phantoms, 3-2, last night in an AHL game at the Wachovia Spectrum. Earlier in the period, Ryan Parent and Steve Downie had rallied with scores within a minute of each other to bring the Phantoms (19-8-1) to a 2-2 tie with just under five minutes remaining. The Penguins (14-12-0), who got a goal from Chris Minard with less than a minute left in the opening period, made it 2-0 on Mark Ardelan's score at 6 minutes, 33 seconds of the third period.

Unable to contain a relentless Hershey Bears power play, the Phantoms took a 7-2 loss last night and were eliminated from playoff contention in the AHL. The Bears were 4 for 6 on the power play at the Wachovia Spectrum and took control of the game with four straight goals that left them coasting, 5-1, after two periods. Ryan Parent scored his first professional goal for the Phantoms, and John Slaney also scored. Claude Giroux, the Flyers' first-round pick in the 2006 NHL draft, made his debut.

After a day of hope, the decision came down yesterday morning that Braydon Coburn, who took a 50-stitch cut around his left eye in Game 2, would not be able to play in Game 4 last night. "We were hopeful [Wednesday]," Flyers coach John Stevens said after yesterday morning's pregame skate. "He got on the ice a little bit, but he's still not ready to play. I think he's getting closer, but definitely not playing tonight. " Later, Stevens added, "I mean, we're not going to put anybody back in the lineup if we don't feel they're ready to play, and clearly that's the case right now. He's a young kid that wants to play.

It's funny how a label sticks with an organization. Thirty-five years after the Flyers won their last Stanley Cup, some opposing players are still talking about the franchise's Broad Street Bullies reputation. "The players have changed, but I think the Flyers still play the same style," Montreal defenseman Josh Gorges said. "It's easy to hate the Flyers," Montreal defenseman Hal Gill told the Montreal Gazette. "They've been the Broad Street Bullies, their fans are loud and obnoxious.

DENVER - The news on Ryan Parent is exactly what was expected - he'll be out up to 10 weeks, after shoulder surgery yesterday. The news on fellow defenseman Randy Jones was a pleasant surprise - instead of the 12 to 16 weeks of recovery from extensive right hip surgery yesterday, Jones might beat Parent back into the lineup. "The doctor got in there and what they thought was a boney issue in the joint apparently wasn't," general manager Paul Holmgren said last night. What that means is that Jones did not have to have part of his hip shaved and will not take as long to recover as originally thought.

The salary cap may have brought parity to the NHL but it also has turned it into a league where college kids with no professional experience can play a game in the NHL. For the second time in three games, the Flyers signed a 24-year-old college defenseman on a 24-hour emergency contract and put him on the ice. Last week it was David Sloane, a Philadelphia-born prospect who played against the Rangers and got 6 minutes, 44 seconds of ice...

Penguins 4, Flyers 1 How it happened: The Penguins grabbed a two-goal, first-period lead and kept their figurative skates on the Flyers' neck. What it means: Golf season is approaching. The loss leaves the Flyers trailing in the series, 3-0. Hero: Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby had two assists and was steady on the defensive end. Goat: Hard to fault Flyers defenseman Jason Smith for an accident, but the Penguins' first goal caromed off his leg. The Flyers lost any home-ice momentum 5:03 into the contest.

LOS ANGELES - Three summers ago, with the second overall pick in its back pocket, the Flyers' front office was operating at full steam. At the NHL draft in Columbus, Ohio, Chicago nabbed Patrick Kane with the first pick and the Flyers selected James van Riemsdyk. Three years later, with van Riemsdyk graduated to the NHL, the entry draft's location has changed but the mind-set and preparation havenot. In a conference call Monday with reporters, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren made it very clear his team is preparing for the start of tomorrow night's draft as if it is picking minutes after the Edmonton Oilers, who have the No. 1 overall pick.

With Paul Holmgren as general manager, the Flyers have climbed from the bottom of the NHL to the top of the Eastern Conference, prompting the club to give him a three-year contract extension on Tuesday. The deal is in the $4.5 million range, according to an NHL source. Holmgren's current contract expires after the 2011-12 season. The extension runs through the end of 2014-15. Ed Snider, chairman of the Flyers' parent company, Comcast-Spectacor, said he was "particularly proud" of Holmgren's imprint on the franchise.

ST. LOUIS - Goalie Michael Leighton, who helped the Flyers get to within two victories of winning the Stanley Cup last season, will undergo back surgery Monday and miss six to eight weeks, the club announced Friday. The procedure, to repair a herniated disk, will be performed by Alex Vacarro at Methodist Hospital in Philadelphia. Leighton said he originally injured the back during last season's playoffs, saying it was an "off-ice thing" and that it bothered him when he was stretching.

ST. LOUIS - Last June, no more than a few days after the Flyers bowed out of the Stanley Cup finals, goaltender Michael Leighton sat in coach Peter Laviolette's office for the usual exit interviews. Except Leighton's meeting with Laviolette - one of the men responsible for his renaissance in net - was much more than routine. Leighton's conversation was very emotional. Leighton thanked his coach for believing in him and promised he would be better if he got another chance to start this season.

NEWARK, N.J. - Paul Holmgren called Michael Leighton's latest injury setback a "bombshell. " For most, it was less surprising that the general manager revealed yesterday that Leighton will miss at least the first month of the season with a bulging diskin his lower back, given his ambiguous handling of the injury on Monday. Either way, it doesn't change the fact that the Flyers will be without their starting goaltender for the start of the season after dressing seven netminders over the course of last season.

The Nashville Predators signed defenseman Ryan Parent to a two-year, $1.85 million contract. The 23-year-old Parent, who was acquired from the Flyers in June in exchange for Dan Hamhuis , will make $850,000 in 2010-11 and $1 million in 2011-12. The NHL Players' Association filed a grievance over the league's rejection of the $102 million contract between Ilya Kovalchuk and the New Jersey Devils. The Vancouver Canucks avoided arbitration with Mason Raymond , signing the forward to a two-year, $5.1 million contract.

LOS ANGELES - Leaving the draft floor at the Staples Center to board a red eye flight back to Philadelphia, Paul Holmgren left the status of the Flyers' 2010 offseason the way it was when he arrived out West: open-ended. "A lot is going to happen between now and July 2," Holmgren said with his trademark dry sense of humor, referring to the day after free agency begins in the NHL. Undoubtedly, Holmgren left here on Saturday night with a bit of a sour taste in his mouth.

LOS ANGELES - There's a chance defenseman Dan Hamhuis will forever be a despised player in Philadelphia - think J.D. Drew, although on a smaller scale. But the reality is this: He inadvertently could make the Flyers stronger Stanley Cup contenders this season. That is, if Plan B works and the Flyers are able to sign aging but gifted goalie Evgeni Nabokov. If Hamhuis had not rejected the Flyers' lucrative offer (believed to be for about $4 million per season), they probably wouldn't have even been thinking about signing Nabokov, with whom they are indirectly negotiating and trying to sign before he hits the free-agent market Thursday.

LOS ANGELES - Unable to sign recently acquired defenseman Dan Hamhuis, the Flyers traded his rights to Pittsburgh on Friday night for a third-round pick in next year's NHL draft. "I'm disappointed - he would have been a good fit for us," general manager Paul Holmgren said after the first round of the draft at the Staples Center. "We'll see what happens from here. " Hamhuis, acquired for defenseman Ryan Parent last week, can become a free agent Friday. Holmgren said he had about five offers for Hamhuis' rights.

LOS ANGELES - After a quiet night at the Staples Center, most of the building had emptied out after all 30 selections in the first round had been made in last night's NHL draft. But then Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren sauntered to the front of the arena to announce a deal. Holmgren had waited until the last possible second last night to make a move. It made a splash - for the wrong team. Holmgren shipped the rights of defenseman Dan Hamhuis, whom he acquired last Saturday from Nashville for defenseman Ryan Parent, to Atlantic Division rival Pittsburgh for a third-round pick in next year's draft.