AROUND THE NHL

Less than 10 hours before Eric Lindros was to become a restricted free agent, the Philadelphia Flyers announced the signing of their franchise center to a one-year contract extension worth $8.5 million plus incentives.

The contract puts in writing what Lindros and the club had agreed to by handshake in September. Despite repeatedly assuring fans they would get the deal done, they waited to make it official until the day before today’s deadline for clubs to sign their potential restricted free agents.

Also, the Phoenix Coyotes said they will exercise the option years on contracts for forwards Rick Tocchet and Greg Adams for next season.

Tocchet, a solid locker room leader, was the team’s fourth-leading scorer last season with 26 goals and 56 points. He is scheduled to make $2.15 million next season.

Adams, fifth with 19 goals and 43 points, will get $1.2 million.

Other marquee players, such as Colorado’s Theo Fleury and Valeri Kamensky and Pat Verbeek of the champion Dallas Stars, will be able to sign with any team with the passing of the deadline.

They are part of this summer’s unrestricted free-agent crop, meaning they can sign with any team in the NHL without compensation to the former team. A player whose contract has expired becomes an unrestricted free agent at the age of 32, as long he has four years of NHL experience.

The restricted free agents are something else. To sign such a player, the penalty is steep: up to five first-round draft choices, depending on the amount of salary offered the player. In this case, the former team has the right to match the offer sheet presented to the player.

Among those in this elite “Group II” crop are Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom and forward Miroslav Satan of Buffalo.

Fleury, who was traded from Calgary to Colorado just before the trading deadline in March, scored 93 points in the 1998-99 season on 40 goals and 53 assists.

He figures to be one of the big winners this summer, expected to get a hefty raise from the reported $2.4 million he earned last season.

The New York Rangers may be interested, among other teams.

Some of the other unrestricted free agents available: defensemen Ulf Samuelsson and Mark Tinordi of Atlanta, and Steve Duchesne of Philadelphia; forwards Joe Murphy of San Jose, Dave Andreychuk of New Jersey, Joe Juneau of Buffalo, and Craig Janney of the New York Islanders; and goaltenders Kirk McLean of Florida, Ken Wregget of Calgary, and Washington’s Rick Tabaracci.