Final roster comes into focus as Jones clears waivers

Defenseman Randy Jones cleared waivers Monday afternoon, two days after being placed on the wire by the Philadelphia Flyers. His status is currently unknown, as the Flyers now have a number of options now that he has cleared. While he could be traded to another NHL team, the most likely outcome is that he is sent to the Adirondack Phantoms, where he could potentially play the entire season. Regardless, he will still earn his full salary, but his $2.75 million cap hit comes off the Flyers' books. That opens up space for the team to offer a contract to forward Blair Betts, as well as keep James van Riemsdyk and Mika Pyorala on the opening night roster.

Jones will have company on his way to upstate New York, if in fact that is where he ends up. The Flyers have cut forwards David Laliberte, Patrick Maroon, Lukas Kaspar, and Jason Ward, and all four players will report to the Phantoms. Maroon, 21, was hopeful to make the roster out of camp this year before a nagging injury held him out of most action. Accompanied by the emergence of JVR, Pyorala, and Betts, his demotion to the Phantoms at this stage is not difficult to understand.

It now appears as though the Flyers will keep all three tough guys, Dan Carcillo, Arron Asham, and Riley Cote, on the roster over the long haul of the season, although one of them could be sent down temporarily to keep goaltender Johan Backlund on the roster. Backlund was called up on Sunday due to a minor injury to goaltender Brian Boucher, who is expected to miss a week to 10 days. Darroll Powe could also be the odd man out for the time being.

The organization has until Wednesday at 3 PM to get the official roster down to 23 players. Including Backlund and excluding Jones, the roster currently stands at 24 players - 14 forwards, 7 defensemen, and 3 goalies. See the entire updated roster here.