Flyers sign defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo

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TAMPA, Fla. -- The Flyers finally ended their search for a free-agent defenseman on Thursday night.

Thirty-four minutes following their 4-3 loss to the Lightning at Amalie Arena (see game recap), Flyers general manager Ron Hextall announced he had signed oft-injured Carlo Colaiacovo.

His salary cap hit in St. Louis last season was $550,000 and it figures he probably got a similar deal here.

“Carlo adds depth to our defensive corps,” Hextall said in a very brief statement.

Said one current NHL coach Colaiacovo played for, “He is a transition player -- a smart player who moves the puck very well. Plays good position and a decent second-unit, power-play guy.”

Earlier in the evening, Hextall told reporters he was working hard to get a veteran NHL defenseman in here by next week and said he was “chipping” away at the list (see story).

There were at least a dozen players out there, several of whom earned more than $2 million last season and nearly all of whom are not playing for a team right now and would need game conditioning.

Colaiacovo, 31, is among the group that was not playing anywhere as far as can be determined.

He signed a two-year, $5 million deal in 2012 with the Red Wings then suffered a shoulder injury that saw him miss 29 games. The Red Wings used a compliance buyout on him in July 2013 and he returned to St. Louis, where he spent most of his recent years on the blue line.

He has had numerous injuries -- shoulder, wrist, knee, eye, facial, lower body. In all, since Jan. 23, 2010, he’s missed 59 NHL games.

A former first-round pick (17th overall) in 2001 by the Maple Leafs, Coloaiacovo has played for Toronto, St. Louis (twice), Detroit and now the Flyers. He has 144 points (31 goals) in 401 NHL games.

Hextall said he would like to be about $2 million under the salary cap for the rest of the season. He had less than $600,000 before the night began.

Once Coloaiacovo joins the club, Shayne Gostisbehere would return to the Phantoms and Brandon Manning would stay as the seventh defenseman. Together, their cap hits total $1.625 million.

“We basically have Kimmo’s (Timonen) money, that is the money we are dealing with,” Hextall said. “I’d like to have some depth players in that $575,000 to $625,000 range.”

Hextall said even if the Flyers signed someone this week, they would not be available until next week.

Biggest issue? Most have not played anywhere.

“That’s an issue,” Hextall said. “No camp, no skating. Guys are skating with other teams but it is not the same.”

He said the Flyers needed someone to spell some of their defensemen on minutes, but not someone to play 23 minutes a night, either. Colaiacovo averages 17:43 ice time a game.

Hextall also said regardless of how Manning or “Ghost” look, he wanted an NHL veteran here.

Hextall said he is not displeased with Gostisbehere, either.

“He hasn’t played bad,” he said. “It’s a lot for any player to come from the American League up here. He played against two pretty good teams. Ghost is fine. You know my wishes. He’s done some good things and not-so-good things. He’s a good, young prospect for us.”

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