Laviolette talks about contract extension

Peter Laviolette had his contract extended Wednesday by the Flyers.

It is a multiyear extension, according to Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren.

"I was really excited to come to a market like Philadelphia, and an organization like this with the history, the ownership, and working for Paul," Laviolette said. "I'm as excited today as I was back then about being able to move forward. There's a great group of players here and to come back and be able to continue to work here is where I want to be. Philadelphia is a big market and I was really excited back then and I'm still really excited about that."

Laviolette has been the Flyers' coach since Dec. 4, 2009. He has a regular-season record of 122-73-26 with the Flyers. He led the Flyers into the Stanley Cup finals in 2010.

Holmgren was asked how important it was to get the deal done now. "Peter and I have a strong relationship," Holmgren said. "We talked about it briefly at the end of the year and we had our own business to work through with the draft, July 1st, and all the other stuff that goes on. There was never a question that this wasn't going to get done. I am very happy to have it done. Peter is a tremendous coach in our league and he is has done a tremendous job for the Flyers. I know that is going to continue. He is a good man and very deserving of this."

The NHL and the players' union are in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement, leaving the league with uncertainty.

"We will go about it as normal," Laviolett said. "I think there is a lot of preparation in the month beforehand with regard to your team and what it is shaping up to be. I don't think anything will change that. Hopefully we start and move forward as planned, but if we don't I guess it gets delayed and you forward when they say move forward."

Laviolette was asked his evaluation of the team and if there are concerns on defense.

"No. I think when you look at a guy like Shea Weber [a free-agent target of the Flyers] there are probably a lot of teams that wish they had a player of his caliber on their club," he said. "Our team moved forward without Shea last year. We dealt with certain injuries and things that I think our club had to overcome.

"We used a lot of good, young defensemen and a lot of good players. I am excited about the players that we brought into the fold this year. I think it is going to be an exciting time to be building it back up from where we left off and adding the new players to the mix. I feel good about the players that we have under contract and moving forward."

Holmgren said defensemen Andrej Meszaros and Marc-Andre Bourdon are "fine" coming off injuries at the end of the season.