Flyers re-call defenseman Syvret

NEWARK, N.J. – With a little extra salary cap space, the Flyers have decided to bring with them some insurance on defense.

The Flyers re-called defenseman Danny Syvret from Adirondack on Thursday, presumably to act as the extra man until Chris Pronger is ready to return to the lineup.

Syvret joined the Flyers for their morning skate at the Prudential Center, as they prepare to meet the last place Devils tonight. The Flyers are 4-2-1 over the last two seasons in Newark.

Since they were not carrying an extra player last week, largely due to salary cap constraints, the Flyers were forced to re-call rookie defenseman Erik Gustafsson for Adirondack to join them halfway through their West Coast trip as a precaution for Kimmo Timonen's lower body injury.

Gustafsson did not make his NHL debut and was returned to Adirondack at the end of the trip.

Syvret, on the other hand, has significant NHL experience. He played 21 games with the Flyers last year and scored the Flyers' only goal in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park. He went down with a grade three shoulder separation later in January and never made it back in the lineup. Syvret has played 55 career games, including 6 with Anaheim this season, where he signed as a free agent before being re-acquired by the Flyers on Nov. 21.

Syvret posted 12 points in 19 games with the Phantoms this season.

Interestingly, Gustafsson's salary cap hit is $900,000, compared to Syvret's $600,000.

Coach Peter Laviolette could also use Syvret to swap Oskars Bartulis out of the lineup. In six games since replacing Pronger in the lineup on Dec. 18, Bartulis is a minus-4 with no points, three shots and two penalty minutes. He has been used almost 6 minutes less per game than any of the other five defensemen.

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