Sources: Laughton on roster; Briere to non-rosterinjured

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The Claude Giroux captaincy was the worst kept secret this week in Flyerdom.

The second worst kept secret concerns rookie prospect Scott Laughton.

Hes on the roster.

The estimated 15,000 who showed up for Thursdays open-house practice at the Wells Fargo Center saw the Flyers entire roster. That includes Laughton, who sources confirmed, will be here Saturday for the lockout-shortened season home opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Now, whether Laughton remains after five games is another thing entirely.

Head coach Peter Laviolette danced around the Laughton question on Thursday night.

Its just been practices for the most part, but the kid can skate well, and make plays. Hes a smart player, Laviolette said.

Can Laughton remain?

I think Ill probably have those discussions with general manager Paul Holmgren first, he said.

Actually, the only decision the Flyers need to make Friday when they turn in their roster at 3 p.m. concerns Danny Briere. He is recovering from a hairline fracture of the left wrist and will miss at least two games. If the club lists Briere as a roster player, then Tommy Sestito would likely be waived to the Phantoms.

However, what the Flyers are expected to do, sources said, is place Briere on non-rosterinjured.

Brieres 6.5 million salary will count against the cap, but he wont count against the 23-man roster limit. He will be an injured player. This will stretch the Flyers to the max on their cap.

Heres the likely roster, according to sources:

The 14 forwards are: Scott Hartnell, Giroux, Brayden Schenn, Max Talbot, Sean Couturier, Jakub Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, Laughton, Matt Read, Ruslan Fedotenko, Eric Wellwood, Zac Rinaldo, Jody Shelley and Sestito.

Briere becomes non-rosterinjured.

The seven defensemen are: Kimmo Timonen, Luke Schenn, Braydon Coburn, Nick Grossmann, Kurtis Foster, Andrej Meszaros and Bruno Gervais.

The two goalies are: Ilya Bryzgalov and Michael Leighton.

Laughton can play five games before the club makes a decision on whether to send him back to junior hockey (Oshawa Generals).

Given Brieres injury, the club will use that period to evaluate Laughton in real games.

One wild card here: If Meszaros, who is recovering from Achilles tendon surgery, cant go, then the club would have to recall Andreas Lilja as the seventh defensemen.

E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net.

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