Osaer won't return to Blades

Two of the eight players originally assigned to the Florida Everblades last season by the NHL's Florida Panthers — goaltender Phil Osaer and defenseman Grant McNeill — will not be back with the Panthers organization.

Neither Osaer nor McNeill were extended qualifying offers by the Panthers, which the 26-year-old Osaer looks at as being favorable for his situation. He now is a free agent and can entertain offers from teams in Europe as well as North America.

"If they didn't want me to play in the American Hockey League then I'm glad they let me go. We kind of came to those terms, where if that was the case they would not qualify me and allow me to look elsewhere sooner,' Osaer said by phone Monday night. "(Jean-Marc) Pelletier is in the second year of his contract and they expect to place him with Rochester in the AHL, so that left me as the odd man out. But I've had a couple offers overseas in Italy and England, and some other NHL organizations have shown interest."

Osaer went 23-10-2 with a 2.95 goals-against-average and a .908 save percentage last season for the Everblades and played his best hockey in the first-round playoff series with Greenville, which the Everblades won in four games. He was called up to Rochester for one game and stopped 33 of 36 shots in a loss.

Originally drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the seventh round of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, Osaer has 49 AHL games under his belt. The ECHL's Texas Wildcatters, who will return to the ice in October after missing the 2005-06 season due to Hurricane Rita, have been talking to him about signing. He played for the Wildcatters in 2004-05.

"When we signed (goalie) David Shantz it just created a numbers problem," said Panthers director of hockey administration Matt Loughran, who just returned from Vancouver, British Columbia and the NHL draft. "Both Phil and Grant happen to be in a organization that it's in a shared agreement in the American League, and that creates less opportunity and more competition. We hope it ultimately creates better players, but in the same respect it probably leaves some of them out in the dust, maybe some guys that don't deserve that."

McNeill, 23, has been plagued by injuries throughout his career, and last season was no exception. The former third-round draft pick of the Panthers (2001) suffered a concussion on opening night after getting in a fight with then-Las Vegas Wranglers forward Kevin Bergin, who later became his teammate. Two shoulder injuries and a high ankle sprain cost him more time and he wound up appearing in just 31 games, missing all of the playoffs. The Panthers signed another one-year affiliation agreement with the Everblades last month and plan on assigning a decent amount of prospects again. Loughran couldn't solidify a number yet, but the Panthers were pleased with last year's arrangement.