Jeff Carter Could Be a Flyer For the Next Decade

Written By Unknown On Friday, November 12, 2010

A 10-year deal likely makes Jeff Carter a Flyer for life.



When the Philadelphia Flyers signed budding superstar Claude Giroux to his three year, $11.25 million contract extension, it led many to ponder whether or not it would affect re-signing 25-year-old sniper Jeff Carter.

No worries, folks, Carter will bear wearing the orange and black for a very long time.

Two sources have told CSNPhilly.com's Tim Panaccio that the Flyers are inching closer to signing Carter to an extension that will keep the center turned winger playing in the city of brotherly love for the next decade.

Panaccio says the deal is expected to be for 10 years, worth in the range of $60 and $63 million for a cap hit in the area of $6 to $6.3 million per season.

If the contract is signed at the numbers that are being leaked, it would give him a slightly higher cap hit than his best buddy, Mike Richards, who's 12-year pact he signed in 2007 has a $5.75 million hit.

It also will ensure he'll be playing with Richards for a major portion of their careers.

Carter, who was drafted with the 11th overall pick by Philadelphia in 2003, is set to become a restricted free agent at season's end if a deal isn't worked out by the start of the summer.

Indications point toward that not being the case as Panaccio is one of the best in the business in breaking news about player movement and personnel decisions.

Bleacher Report's Mark Ritter chewed over the idea that Giroux's deal could spell the end of the line for Carter in Philadelphia. Due to cap circumstances, he figures that someone would fall victim to the cap much like Simon Gagne did this past offseason.

Since Danny Briere and Scott Hartnell each have some sort of no-movement clauses in their contract, and the dollar figures each make, it only made sense that Carter would be the odd man out.

Ritter said that at some point in the season or over the summer, Carter will be traded.

For anyone who is familiar with general manager Paul Holmgren's thought process, they would know that he has no plans to trade the London, Ont. native.

In fact, during this past summer, Holmgren religiously denied rumors that the Flyers were listening to trade offers involving Carter.

The Flyers still view Carter as a franchise player they drafted seven years ago, and want to get him locked up as soon as possible. It's the Flyers mission to make sure he doesn't reach free agent status.

Carter has had a very successful career in his six NHL seasons, recording 153 goals and 291 points while possessing a career +27 rating in 397 regular season games. To add to his already impressive resume, Carter has 19 points in 41 career playoff games.

This year, Carter is tied for the team lead in points with none other than Giroux with 14 points. He has eight goals and six assists in 16 games.

Those numbers don't lie, and the fact that he has yet to enter the stage of his career where players usually hit their prime tells you that he is only going to get better.

Holmgren has realized the importance of building around a core of young players, and he's identified Carter as part of his core.

Look at the some of the best teams in the league the last couple years, they built around a core of a few players.

For example, in Pittsburgh, it's been Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal. In Detroit, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg.

The Flyers hope Carter, Richards and Giroux can provide the same kind of excitement for Philadelphia as Crosby, Malkin and Staal and Datsyuk and Zetterberg have done for Pittsburgh and Detroit.

That is, win a Stanley Cup.



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