Seems the last couple of seasons, the Flyers have bounced around with their minor league affiliates.

This upcoming season is no different as they entered into an agreement with the ECHL's Greenville Road Warriors.

That club is run by former Rangers' GM Neil Smith.

Here's a question and I heard this asked more than once by veteran scribes at the NHL Draft this past June in Los Angeles. Why is it that Neil Smith and Ken Hitchcock can't find an NHL job?

Both have won Stanley Cups, one as a GM, the other, as a coach. And both are not in the NHL and it's been a while.

Makes you wonder.

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I saw Chris Pronger, among others, on Monday. He looks very tanned and buffed and is sporting a mullet longer than mine.

He was not limping, either. I gotta feeling this guy is gonna be ready for Game 1 of the regular season, after all.

As many of our readers have expressed here and on CSNPhilly.com, Pronger doesn't need to play pre-season. He can work himself back into shape in-season, if need be, given the minutes he plays, the way he plays them (almost effortlessly) and his terrific off-season conditioning program.

He won't be 100 percent but as one Flyer official said, "80 percent" Pronger is better than 100 percent of most d-men in the NHL.

BTW: Pronger confirmed what I said here and on CSN last week. That he had been working out, thought he could avoid surgery, but his right knee swelled up during vacation, forcing him to undergo the surgery. He did not deliberately avoid the surgery and he was not even listed on the Flyers off-season surgery list.

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As you may have seen on Euroflyers.com, Lukas Krajicek did not re-sign with the Flyers but is hopeful of landing an NHL job. He remains in Europe for now.

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