Flyers: 8 Years to Briere? Here's a theory..

Signing Briere to an 8 year contract will take him to 37 years old and unlikely to earn the cap space he will occupy. After thinking about it though, I think the Flyers used a long contract term to lower the average per year (which is how the cap works) to $6.5m. At $6.5 a year against the cap, the Flyers can now afford to sign another impact player....this year. A nice second tier player could be lured here now that the Flyers can call themselves a contender. As for looking ahead, I'm sure Holmgren is betting the $6.5 million cap hit in 8 years won't be as constraining as it is the current cap structure.