Hal Gill Adds to Competition on Flyers Blue Line

VOORHEES — Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren has kept the same stance going back to last season in between injury updates for the eight different blueliners who lost man games to injury.

“I like our defense,” the general manager said time after time.

He stockpiled nine players on one-way contracts this season and now a new candidate to make the roster has emerged on the scene.

The team signed 38-year-old veteran defenseman Hal Gill to a professional tryout Saturday. He will attend training camp, which begins next Thursday.

Counting the injured Chris Pronger, the Flyers have devoted $34,228,929 to defensemen this season. They also are roughly $2 million over the salary cap. It’s not clear where Gill fits into the team’s plans, unless they make a trade.

It was only Thursday that Holmgren was singing the praises of two defensemen likely to return to the very crowded blueline.

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Dave Isaac covers the Flyers for 97.3 ESPN and The Courier Post.  Reach Dave Isaac at disaac@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @davegisaac.