Matt Read is entering the final season of his three-year, $2.7 million contract and if he manages to have another solid campaign in 2013-14, then he should get a sizable raise. The bigger question is whether or not it will be with the Philadelphia Flyers.
“I would love to stay here,” Read told the Courier-Post. “Philadelphia’s obviously a great market to play hockey in. It’s a great bunch of guys here.”
Beyond that, he doesn’t want to think about his situation. He doesn’t find out about trade rumors unless his family informs him of them -- which they do -- and he’s happy to let his agent handle things when it comes to his contract status as he slowly inches closer to potentially becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Instead, he’s been working hard over the summer with the attitude that he doesn’t have a guaranteed spot with the Flyers -- even though it would be shocking if he didn’t make the team.
The 27-year-old forward is a solid secondary scorer for the Flyers, but whether or not he’ll work into their long-term plans remains to be seen. Philadelphia already has roughly $53.6 million in salary committed to 15 players for 2014-15, according to Cap Geek, and that doesn’t include any goaltenders.
Read is projected to start the 2013-14 campaign on the Flyers’ third line, but he should also help kill penalties and get some playing time with the man advantage.
