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Flyers sign Lukas Krajicek

The Flyers have signed defenseman Lukas Krajicek, an unrestricted free agent, to a contract.

Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren has said for weeks that he has been looking for a depth defenseman to round out his team.

On Friday, he found one – at least for the time being.

A team source has confirmed to the Daily News that the Flyers have signed Lukas Krajicek, who played with Tampa Bay this season, to a contract.

Krajicek, an unrestricted free agent, landed in Philly in interesting fashion.

He was originally

Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren has said for weeks that he has been looking for a depth defenseman to round out his team.

On Friday, he found one – at least for the time being.

A team source has confirmed to the Daily News that the Flyers have signed Lukas Krajicek, who played with Tampa Bay this season, to a contract.

. He cleared waivers on Dec. 12 and was sent to Norfolk (AHL).

From there, Krajicek played in 15 games with the Admirals. This week, he decided to leave Norfolk – his last game was Jan. 24 in Lowell – which gave the Lightning the ability to put him on unconditional waivers.

Once he cleared unconditional waivers, the Lightning were able to terminate his contract – making him an unrestricted free agent. The move relieved Tampa Bay of paying any team half of his $1.475 million contract if he was claimed on re-entry waivers.

Krajicek was due to become an unrestricted free agent this summer anyways.

Krajicek, 26, was in Philadelphia on Saturday for the Flyers' game but did not play. He did, however, accompany the team on their charter flight to Calgary on Saturday night.

Krajicek – a former 1st round pick (2001, 24th overall by Florida) – played in 23 games for the Lightning this season. He had one assist as a minus-4.

The 6-foot-2, 196 pound Czech Republic native has played in 301 career NHL games. The Flyers are his fourth NHL team.

There has been no word yet as to what Krajicek signed for - presumably the league minimum - or how soon he could be in the lineup. Krajicek could replace Ole-Kristian Tollefsen or Oskars Bartulis on Monday night in Calgary.

It turns out that Krajicek's signing was the reason Mika Pyorala was assigned to the Phantoms on Saturday, to make room on the 23-man active roster.

Follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DNFlyers for the latest updates.