Flyers Notes: Kukkonen cut, but plays anyway

PITTSBURGH - In a move that would clear salary-cap space needed to sign free-agent winger

Brendan Shanahan

, the Flyers yesterday put seldom-used defenseman

Lasse Kukkonen

on waivers.

Kukkonen, however, played briefly last night against the Penguins as a fourth-line

center. The Flyers have just 11 healthy forwards.

If no team claims Kukkonen by noon today, the Flyers can send him to the AHL Phantoms and not have his $875,000 salary count against their cap.

General manager

Paul Holmgren

said the Flyers did not have cap space to recall Phantoms forwards

Jared Ross

or

Nate Raduns

last night.

On Tuesday, Holmgren said the Flyers had about $800,000 in cap space; last night, he said it was actually $230,000 when the contract of recently promoted forward

Josh Gratton

was added.

If Kukkonen clears waivers and is sent to the Phantoms - the Flyers could decide to keep him with the big-league club - the Flyers would be about $1.1 million under the cap. That may be enough to lure Shanahan, whose agent said he will probably decide on a team by today. The Flyers also would have the option of promoting a Phantoms forward.

Holmgren said he has not talked to Shanahan's agent in several days. He said he was "not optimistic and not pessimistic, either," about signing Shanahan.

Kukkonen played center last night for the first time in 10 years, back when he was in juniors.

"He told me if I left him there, he'd win the Selke," said smiling Flyers coach

John Stevens

before the game, referring to the award given to the top defensive forward.

Kukkonen played all of 52 seconds on offense in the first period, then went back to defense in the second period because

Ossi Vaananen

reinjured his right index finger. Vaananen had missed three games after undergoing surgery and was making his return last night.

Riley Cote

(injured side) and

Darroll Powe

(concussion) are skating at the Voorhees practice rink and are day-to-day, Stevens said.

- Sam Carchidi