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Report: Matt Carle will test “UFA waters”

Matt Read, Matt Carle

Philadelphia Flyers’ Matt Carle (25) celebrates his first-period goal with Matt Read (24) against the Pittsburgh Penguins during Game 5 of an opening-round NHL Stanley Cup hockey playoff series in Pittsburgh Friday, April 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

AP

Thursday’s been an awfully busy day when it comes to transactions - unofficial as they may be - but there are plenty of extra rumors for those who want to gorge themselves before the free agent weekend. Pierre LeBrun provided one of the more interesting ones: Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Matt Carle will reportedly “dip his toes in UFA waters.”

Here’s his precise Tweet:

I still think Flyers have a good shot at re-signing Carle, but it may only come after he dips his toes into UFA waters.

LeBrun might be right, but Carle and his representatives are being smart. The pool for unrestricted free agent defensemen is woefully shallow, so even if he just wants to stick with Philly, he’ll likely be able to drive his value up considerably simply by playing teams against each other. Naturally, there’s also the outside chance that someone else will woo him, too.

It brings up an interesting question: how much is Carle worth? There was a pretty lively discussion of that topic in this UFA Spotlight post on Carle, so feel free to share your own thoughts there or in the comments below.