Dan Cleary a no-show at Flyers training camp, signs with Wings

Raffl was a coveted prospect last year, who signed with Philadelphia in May. He has spent the entirety of his career in Europe and was projected to play in the Swedish Elite League had he not signed with the Flyers.

The decision to move forward with what they have is likely the soundest course of action for the Flyers. They’re constricted because of cap commitments and have several players who potentially could handle a bottom-six role at the NHL level. The club has the entire exhibition season to try out combinations, and if no one is capable of handling the responsibility, it can revisit the situation in the opening weeks of the regular season.

Cleary, manager Ken Holland and coach Mike Babcock met on Wednesday to discuss the logistics of working out an agreement and were apparently successful in doing so. The question now remains how the team plans to become cap compliant prior to the start of the regular season. Holland stated on Thursday that he has three weeks to figure out his roster and previously said he would not use injured reserve to do so.

The Red Wings currently have 17 forwards in training camp. The team plans on carrying 14 on opening night.

Red Wings manager Ken Holland stated on Thursday morning that he, Cleary and coach Mike Babcock had held a meeting on Wednesday to discuss Cleary’s future with the Red Wings. All parties involved have consistently expressed mutual interest in keeping Cleary a member of the Detroit franchise. However, salary cap complications had previously kept the sides from reaching a new agreement, in addition to the team’s depth at forward.

However, Holland says that Cleary still wanted to play for the Red Wings, via MLive.com:

Cleary had previously agreed to a professional tryout contract with the club that eventually would have led to a three-year, $8.25 million agreement to be signed in October. However, Elliotte Friedman of CBC first reported on Wednesday afternoon that a complication had arisen with the deal and Cleary would not be joining the Flyers. As of this writing, the extent of that complication has not come to light.

Holland had previously stated that he presented multiple offers to Cleary over the offseason but was unable to present a proposal the two sides could agree upon. Whether the Red Wings have re-emerged as a suitor for Cleary remains to be seen but seems likely.

However, the team’s salary cap situation might not need as much maneuvering as expected as Elliotte Friedman of CBC is reporting that a complication has arisen between Cleary and the Flyers, which will result in the player not joining the team after all.

Philadelphia is holding the first day of media sessions on Wednesday, which Cleary was not expected to attend. Members of the Philadelphia media corps have been tweeting that the Flyers informed them that Cleary will be available on Thursday, the first official day of camp.

Helene St. James of the Detroit Press was the first to report on the agreement as she received verbal confirmation from Cleary. Due to salary cap constraints, Philadelphia will not officially announce the signing until the end of the month and will bring Cleary to training camp on a professional tryout. In total, the three-year agreement will pay the 34-year-old forward $8.25 million and will carry an annual average value of $2.75 million against the salary cap. The deal also includes some kind of no-trade protection, the extent of which hasn’t surfaced yet.

Tim Panaccio of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia spoke to an “NHL source” who confirmed the accuracy of the report.