Daniel Cleary has spent the past eight of his 15 NHL seasons with the Detroit Red Wings. Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Now that Philadelphia Flyers training camp is underway and Daniel Cleary is not part of it, here is what we understand to be true.
Wednesday, I was working on a piece explaining the salary-cap dancing Philadelphia must do to sign Cleary to the reported three-year, $8.25-million US contract.
For the record, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren has said there is no guarantee. He claimed the veteran was joining the team on a tryout basis.
Anyway, one of the people I spoke to called back to say, "Don't write it, something's up. It may not be happening."
He wouldn't provide any further information, except that "you will have to ask the Flyers."
Holmgren and another team official have not responded to requests for comment, although Holmgren did tell Philly reporters that "until I hear from the horse's mouth," he had no reason to assume Cleary wasn't coming (It was about an hour after the first requests were made to the Flyers that there was enough confirmation to go with the report).
The team included Cleary in its training camp lineup for Thursday morning.
Initially, it was assumed to be a cap compliance issue, especially since other teams were furious at the move. According to an NHL source, that is not the case. There appears to be no league-level complaint.
Discussions with Detroit
Instead, Cleary, who also has kept a low profile, seems to have had a change of heart and would like to stay in Detroit. He met Wednesday afternoon with Red Wings GM Ken Holland and head coach Mike Babcock to discuss a return that could see him leaving about $2.5 million US on the table compared to Philadelphia's offer.
However, Detroit's main problem remains having 25 players under contract. If Cleary does decide to stay -- and it is believed Babcock wants it to happen -- bodies must be moved.
That's where it stands as of Thursday morning. Undoubtedly, there is more to come.
Follow Elliotte Friedman on Twitter @FriedgeHNIC
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Elliotte Friedman
Elliotte joined CBC in October 2003 and is a commentator with Hockey Night in Canada.
As part of his duties with Hockey Night in Canada, Friedman hosts Inside Hockey, a feature airing every Saturday during Scotiabank Hockey Tonight that tells the stories of the people and places that shape the game of hockey. Always committed to giving viewers the inside story, fans call follow him throughout the regular season and playoffs on Twitter.
