The NHL's annual summer madness known as the start of free agency begins tomorrow. The first day of free agency is always the busiest one for unrestricted free agents, in which most of the big-name signings take place. Day two usually has about half as much activity, and then things drop off from there with periodic signings here are there. Restricted free agent re-signings or rights trades often take place a little later.

The Flyers could make three or four signings tomorrow -- starting defenseman, offensive winger, backup goaltender, checking forward -- depending on how much cap space has to be used in the process.

Come tomorrow, the Flyers may take their best shot at making offers to Zach Parise and/or Ryan Suter, either of whom could realistically be absorbed on the cap if the Flyers allow both Matt Carle and Jaromir Jagr to walk. However the Flyers are not frontrunners to land either of the two marquee players. If a big name is coming to Philly next season, it will likely have to be via the trade route.

More likely, the Flyers will attempt to re-sign Carle once agent Kurt Overhardt has offers from other teams to wave under their noses. Teams may wait first to see where Suter signs and how much his cap hit will be. Carle's offers will come in south of that level but north of what Dennis Wideman got in Calgary.

If there is a bidding war for Carle among the teams that Suter rebuffs, the price may exceed the maximum the Flyers are willing to pay. There is no shortage of interested teams. Carle has made clear that his top preference is to remain in Philadelphia but if some team presents him an offer he can't refuse, he would be foolish not to take it.

If Carle opts to leave, the Flyers could opt to stand pat on the blueline for the time being and then potentially seek a trade later in the summer or during the season. They still would have a serviceable starting six among Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn, Luke Schenn, Andrej Meszaros, Nicklas Grossmann and either Marc-Andre Bourdon or Erik Gustafsson. However, standing pat would be a risky strategy because of Timonen's increasingly uncertain health as well as Andrej Meszaros' long-term absence in the latter part of last season following back surgery.

Alternatively, if they cannot re-sign Carle, the Flyers could make a late push to replace someone like free agent Jason Garrison. They could plan to give more offensive responsibilities to Meszaros (if healthy) next season and opt to add another defensive defenseman such as Bryan Allen for increased depth. A third option would be to seek a short-term deal with an aging and/or historically injury prone free agent. Players such as Sami Salo and Filip Kuba fit the latter category.

Jagr's situation is a little more dicey. He will sign a one-year deal wherever he goes, and has said that he will base his final decision on the recommendation of agent Petr Svoboda. Jagr has stated that his primary concern is his role with a team, but is also believed to be seeking at least a small raise on the $3.3 million he made last season in Philadelphia.

There's a wider array of attractive alternative options to Jagr available to the Flyers if he goes elsewhere. They don't have to add a star the caliber of Parise.

For one thing, they may already be deep enough, even with the trade of James van Riemsdyk, to ice a competitive top-six group of forwards from within the team. Thus, there are a variety of ways the Flyers could go, ranging from trying to add another 55-plus point caliber forward to opting instead to strengthen the bottom six forward corps with a little more size and grit.

The Flyers will also be in the market tomorrow for a new backup goaltender. Ideally, they would like to spend $300,000 to $500,000 less than the Rangers paid yesterday to re-sign Martin Biron ($1.3 million cap hit for two years). There is a slew of backup goaltenders hitting the UFA market tomorrow with more job seekers than jobs available come October. So there is a pretty good chance the Flyers could sign a serviceable reserve netminder at a discounted cost.

This summer, the Flyers also have to deal with re-signing restricted free agents Jakub Voracek, Bourdon, Tom Sestito and Harry Zolnierczyk. All are expected to sign with little difficulty in the negotiation but it remains to be seen how much of a raise Voracek will get from his current $2.25 million salary and whether it will be another one-year deal (he'd still be an RFA next season) or a multi-year deal.



****************

Longtime Phoenix Coyotes captain Shane Doan is of the more intriguing UFA options on the market in lieu of re-signing Jagr. While the 35-year-old forward's first preference is to stay put -- he has spent his entire career in the Winnipeg/Phoenix organization -- he has decided to test the open market.

The pros:

* Doan is a lock for 20 to 25 goals in an average season. He has a pair of 30-goal seasons on his resume as well.
* He adds size, physicality, grit and competitiveness.
* He is one of the NHL's best leaders and would step right into the Flyers' leadership group, perhaps even taking over the captaincy.
* Despite an unfavorable plus-minus rating last year, Doan is a responsible two-way player who cares more about winning than personal stats. He does a lot of little things that don't show up on a scoresheet but contribute to winning.

The cons:

* Doan reportedly wants a four-year contract and is not willing to consider anything less than a three-year contract. That is quite risky for a player on an over-35 contract.
* Although he has been a remarkably durable player over most of his career, he is at a dangerous age for big, power-oriented forwards.
* He is not a pure sniper. I would liken Doan's finishing ability to that of longtime Flyers forward Rod Brind'Amour. The effort level will always be there, but there will be times where he can't seem to buy a goal.

The Flyers are not one of the favorites to land Doan. It has been said that if he does not re-sign with the Coyotes, there will be a host of clubs (potentially including division rivals Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers) who will bid for his services at cap hits over and above the $4.5 million he made in his last contract with Phoenix.

Thus, if the Flyers were to be able to sign Doan, it would take a risky and pricey contract to beat out his other suitors.

****************

The Flyers' decision to hire Terry Murray as the new coach of the Adirondack Phantoms salves some of wounds from the rather questionable firing of Joe Paterson at the end of last season. I still feel that Paterson is a very good AHL coach who got a bit of a raw deal, but there is no questioning Murray's credentials as a "teaching coach." He is one of the best in that regard. Both Murray and Paterson are class acts off the ice as well.

While I'm happy for "Murph" being brought back to the organization and getting another head coaching job after being fired by the Kings last December, I'm even happier that Ian Laperriere will stay on in the organization. He will take over as the team's Director of Player Development; the position most recently held since 2006 by Don Luce.

****************

KINDLE USERS: Please sign up for Flyers Buzz. For more information click here.