Source: Pronger's new job won't penalize Flyers

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Chris Pronger has accepted a job with the league office in the department of player safety, a league source confirmed to CSNPhilly.com, but the Flyers won’t be penalized on their salary cap, the source also said.

TSN’s Bob McKenzie first reported Pronger's taking the job on Thursday night prior to the Flyers' home opener against the New Jersey Devils.

A league source confirmed that and then added the Flyers will not be penalized or sustain a crippling cap hit for Pronger’s accepting this job. Pronger, the source said, will collect his NHL salary as he has been.

The source said, however, the Flyers will not benefit from Pronger’s departure, which implies he will come off LTIR and go on injured reserve.

Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said he has not been officially informed by either the league or Pronger himself, and isn’t sure how to react or what comes next.

“I know the stuff that is out there. If I hear it's official, I’ll give you an update from our side,” Hextall said. “It’s the NHL’s announcement to make and once they make it, I’ll talk to you about it. I don’t feel comfortable talking about it [now].”

Under the current CBA, when a player retires early, he doesn’t get paid, but the club gets stuck with “dead” money against its cap that it can’t use toward LTIR. Pronger has been on LTIR for more than two seasons.

He has this year, plus two more years left on his deal with a $4.94 million cap hit and is owed $5.15 million in real dollars.

This situation could have forced the Flyers into a situation in which they’d have to immediately trade a big contract or two to get cap compliance.

It is believed the league and NHLPA were to discuss how to handle this and whether it met qualifications as a special situation that could perhaps lead to a CBA amendment.

Apparently they found a solution.

“If they announce it, I will come out and talk,” Hextall said.

Since taking the GM job last May, Hextall has been under significant salary cap distress and this only further complicates things for him.

Why this was never addressed when the current CBA was pieced together in 2013 -- Pronger’s career ended long before that because of post-concussion syndrome -- remains a mystery. He is legitimately injured, yet can’t retire without his club suffering financially.

“I’ll say this,” Hextall said. “We have no interest in stopping Chris from getting on with his life.”

As for the CBA not addressing this, “That certainly would have been best for us,” Hextall said. “You’d like to have it off your cap.

“It does affect you. But that’s one of the things we have no control over. Would we like it to go away? Absolutely.”

Pronger performs some scouting and video analysis for the Flyers.

Deputy NHL commissioner Bill Daly had no comment other to say there would be no CBA amendment.

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