Flyers, Kimmo Timonen Agree to Extension

For weeks, new general manager Ron Hextall kept asking and asking. Kimmo Timonen, the 39-year-old defenseman, kept stalling and stalling.

Finally, after working out at the Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees last week, Timonen made up his mind and paid Hextall a visit.

He wants to come back for one more year. The Flyers obliged, giving him a contract reportedly worth $2 million in base salary, but bonuses could take it to as high as $4 million.

"I think the biggest key is whether Kimmo thinks he can play and whether Kimmo has enough in the tank to go through another offseason and be in shape in September," Hextall said. "If you talk to a lot of guys who have been around for a long time, that's the hardest part."

The 39-year-old Finn had been on the fence all season about whether he'd return. He still hasn't attained his life goal of lifting the Stanley Cup and a six-goal, 29-assist campaign this season wasn't a high enough note to go out on.