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Fans believe Carter should stick with Flyers

The Flyers control Jeff Carter's destiny. Carter, who has one season and $5 million remaining on the 3-year deal he inked in the summer of 2008, will be a restricted free agent starting in July 2011.

The Flyers control Jeff Carter's destiny.

Carter, who has one season and $5 million remaining on the 3-year deal he inked in the summer of 2008, will be a restricted free agent starting in July 2011.

As such, Carter will not live through the circus that big-money players with expiring contracts must endure at the next trade deadline. And that's all right with Flyers fans.

Carter was recently voted the player who Flyers fans would least like to trade by respondents who identified the Flyers as their favorite team in a Daily News survey completed in conjunction with Temple University's Sport Industry Research Center.

In a pool of six Flyers, Carter garnered 31 percent of the vote. His 79 goals in the last two regular seasons might have something to do with that.

Undoubtedly, teams inquired about obtaining Carter at this year's March 3 trade deadline. General manager Paul Holmgren said he never considered it an option.

"[Carter] is not someone that we considered trading under any circumstances," Holmgren said then. "We looked around for a few things to see if anything made sense and nothing came up that did."

Claude Giroux, who carries the burden of responsibility for both the present and the future of the franchise, finished just behind Carter with 30 percent of the vote. Rookie James van Riemsdyk followed Giroux with 16 percent.

Not surprisingly, oft-injured forward Simon Gagne finished fifth of six. Flyers fans have never been firmly behind players who are frequently injured.

If not for previous health issues, Gagne likely would have garnered more support. Only 10 percent of Flyers fans questioned said they would not trade Gagne, who has missed 84 games over the past three seasons and has a no-trade clause in his contract. Gagne's 34 goals in 79 games in 2008-09 proved that he can still be a lethal scorer when healthy.

Similarly, Carter's stock could quickly drop if his recent durability questions are not answered. Carter had surgery for the second time in 3 weeks on April 23 to repair fractured bones in his feet as a result of blocking shots. Carter had only missed 21 regular-season games in his five full seasons as a Flyer before this string of injuries.

Surprisingly, team MVP and top defenseman Chris Pronger - who was acquired last June - only received 12 percent of the vote. It's safe to say that Pronger, 35, with 6 years left on his contract and a no-movement clause, won't be going anywhere any time soon.

Danny Briere, Scott Hartnell and Kimmo Timonen - players with multiple years left on their contracts and no-trade or no-movement clauses - were not included in the survey. Neither was Mike Richards, who agreed to a 12-year contract extension in 2007 with a no-movement clause taking effect in July 2012.

Braydon Coburn received just 1 percent of the vote, signifying the fans' willingness to part ways with the 25-year-old defenseman. *