The most anticipated day of the off-season is finally upon us. It remains to be seen if the Flyers will be able to reel in a big fish via free agency, but they will keep trying to improve the team. Yesterday's developments:

* Tim Panaccio reported that the Flyers are once again talking to Columbus about a trade for Rick Nash. However, since none among Sean Couturier, Brayden or Luke Schenn are being made available -- and with James van Riemsdyk now a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs after the trade for Luke Schenn -- a Nash trade still seems like a longshot.

* For the time being, it seems that talks with Anaheim about a Bobby Ryan trade have cooled off. However, the Flyers clearly remain interested in a player they have coveted for many years.

* The Flyers bought out defenseman Oskars Bartulis yesterday. As a result, the team will have an additional $500,000 available on their summer salary cap but they will also be compelled to carry $100,000 of dead space on the cap over each of the next two seasons.

* According to several media reports, free agent defenseman Ryan Suter will likely not make a decision today about which team's offer he will accept. We will find out today if that causes other defensemen, including Matt Carle, to wait longer or if they will sign ahead of Suter setting the top bar of the market.

This evening, I will update today's blog with commentary on the Flyers' first-day moves.




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