That pipe dream you had about Matt Carle signing for less than market value in Philadelphia? That thought you had about the Flyers and Carle already having an agreement in place?

They were just waiting til July 1! He wants to be here. He really does!

Yeah, not happening. According to TSN's Pierre LeBrun, speaking on SportsCentre Thursday evening, Carle will indeed test the free agent waters on Sunday.

Reports had indicated that the Flyers and Carle were close on a deal that would keep him in town with a $4.25 million cap hit, but when you think about that for half a second, the numbers just don't add up. Not in a world where James Wisniewski is worth $5.5 million on the UFA market or Brent Seabrook is worth $5.8 million. Not in a world where Dennis Wideman is worth $5.25 million.

It doesn't make any sense that Carle would be worth any less than those guys. In fact, he's likely worth closer to $6 million in that market, and this current crop of free agents only hurts the Flyers' chances of signing Carle. Excluding Ryan Suter, Carle is the top option this year on the UFA market on defense -- and after that there's a steep drop off in talent level.

Teams want Matt Carle. Lots of them. And with such little stock on the market, the bidding war could get out of hand.

We'll have a full look tomorrow at the entire UFA crop on defense, because now it seems like a necessity. But in the meantime, the Flyers are in a pretty difficult position. It's either pay far more for Carle than they originally anticipated or settle for something far below his talent level. They can't necessarily afford either option.