Leino deal might have to wait for Flyers

After inking Claude Giroux and Jeff Carter to important contract extensions in the same week earlier this month, it might take the Flyers considerably longer to get breakout star Ville Leino locked up in Philadelphia beyond this season.

And it's not because the two sides remain far apart on numbers or do not have a mutual interest.

The collective bargaining agreement is likely preventing them from doing so, according to a league source. Since the Flyers already have $57.6 million committed to 18 players for next season's salary cap, the most in the league, the team isn't allowed to exceed this year's cap of $59.4 million - even though the cap is expected to increase for the sixth consecutive time next summer.

That could prevent the Flyers from locking up Leino, who is tied for third in team scoring with four goals and 13 assists heading into tonight's matchup in Minnesota, until the offseason.

Leino, 27, will earn $800,000 this season. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Leino's agent, Bill Zito, was in town last week. Zito met with Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren briefly but had no progress to report.

"It's a process," Zito said yesterday. "Very rarely does it ever take just one phone call or one meeting to get a deal done. We're on the same page."

Leino, who enjoys not only playing in Philadelphia but living here, too, said he isn't sweating not having a new contract.

"It's a good fit," Leino said. "I'm enjoying hockey and it's been good for me. I like it here. In Detroit, I didn't like living in the suburbs. I like the city life here, I've enjoyed my time outside hockey and hockeywise. That makes it a good fit."

Next year's salary-cap picture does not include unrestricted free agents Nik Zherdev ($2 million), Sean O'Donnell ($1.3 million), Brian Boucher ($925,000) or restricted free agents Dan Carcillo ($1.075 million), Andreas Nodl ($850,000) or Darroll Powe ($725,000) - all of whom are eligible to come off the books at the end of the season.

Last summer, the salary cap increased almost 5 percent, from $56.8 million to $59.4 million. With ESPN interested in the NHL's broadcast rights, thus pumping more money into the revenue stream, the cap could increase by even more than that next summer. It also could stay the same - or even decrease with an unforeseen financial disaster.

Via trade or roster move, the Flyers could make enough room this season to sign Leino to an extension.

The bottom line is that Leino will be due a big raise after shattering the Flyers' rookie playoff scoring record with 21 points in 19 games last spring and proving he can maintain that pace this season. His new salary could range anywhere from $2.5 million to upwards of $4 million.

That doesn't mean Leino needs to have his extension signed during the season. He doesn't mind waiting until the offseason.

"I'm not in any rush," Leino said. "If it happens, it happens. It's going to happen anyway, even if they don't want to sign me. Until then, I think I can improve on my game and try not to concentrate on that."

Holmgren, meanwhile, said he isn't worried. He wants Leino - whom he stole from Detroit last year for oft-injured defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen - to be more than just a flash in the pan.

"We have all season to get this done," Holmgren said. "We've talked and we will continue to talk. We can go into the summer if need be."

After being left off the NHL's ballot of the top 100 players for the All-Star Game, the push by Flyers fans to have Claude Giroux and Sergei Bobrovsky in the mix has been successful through the first week of voting.

Bobrovsky (58,101 votes) and Giroux (54,215) trail only Montreal's Carey Price (71,199) for most votes by a write-in candidate. Giroux is 11th among all forwards, behind sixth place Mike Richards (59,808).

The top three forwards, two defensemen and a goaltender - as voted by the fans - will be the starters in the All-Star Game, to be held on Jan. 30 in Raleigh, N.C. The other 37 players will be chosen by the league and then drafted by captains onto teams in pick-up game fashion.

Chris Pronger trails Nicklas Lidstrom by fewer than 3,000 votes for the second and final defensive spot and Bobrovsky has a 10,000-vote lead on Tim Thomas for the second goalie spot behind Price.

Dan Carcillo, who has been out since Nov. 15 with a sprained left MCL, is scheduled to skate today in Voorhees for the first time since sustaining the injury. Carcillo said yesterday his knee is "feeling better every day." Paul Holmgren said Carcillo will "probably need at least another week" before being healthy enough to return to the lineup . . . Defenseman Matt Walker, still rehabbing from hip surgery, was originally scheduled to accompany the team to Minnesota yesterday afternoon but stayed in Philadelphia as his wife, Kate, was going into labor with the couple's first child . . . Minnesota swept the Flyers in their two-game regular season series last year. They are one of four teams in the NHL this season to be ranked in the top 10 in both power play and penalty kill . . . The Flyers are 1-2-1 at the Xcel Energy Center since the Wild joined the NHL in 2000. *

For more news and analysis, read Frank Seravalli's blog, Frequent Flyers, at

http://go.philly.com/frequentflyers. Follow him on Twitter at

http://twitter.com/DNFlyers