He is the current longest tenured Philadelphia Flyer no more.
In what can best be described as a salary cap dump, Simon Gagne, who played ten seasons for the Orange-and-Black was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for defenseman Matt Walker and a fourth round pick in 2011.
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Gagne, who waived his no-trade clause to complete the trade, became a victim of poor salary-cap related moves by Flyers General Manager Paul Holmgren. Holmgren was forced to make a move to keep the Flyers salary cap complacent. Gagne was a Philadelphia fan favorite, but missed 83 games the last three seasons and is set to become an unrestricted free-agent after this season, currently making $5.25-million. It was unlikely Gagne would return to Philadelphia after this season.
The deal leaves the Flyers with eight defensemen on their active roster and $1.05-million in cap sapce.
Walker, 30, is a 6’4’’, 215-pound defenseman physical defenseman, who has prototypical NHL size and likes to use it to his advantage. Usually limits mistakes in his own end. Can be quite physical from the back end and also drop the gloves when necessary but right now, figures to be used in limited situations, or even sent to waivers to clear more cap room for the Flyers.
The the 2010 Eastern Conference Champion makeover may not be complete. If the Flyers still feel there is someone – perhaps a goalie – they want to go after in free agency, the Flyers could send Oskars Bartulis, Walker and Riley Cote to waivers and clear up to $2.7-million in cap space – leaving enough cap room for another goaltender.
The Flyers forwards look like this and still sport one of the most talented top-six in the Eastern Conference: Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Nikolai Zherdev; Scott Hartnell, Danny Briere, Ville Leino; James van Riemsdyk, Claude Giroux, Dan Carcillo; Jody Shelley, Blair Betts, Ian Laperriere; extras: Cote.
Defense upgraded from a season ago: Chris Pronger, Matt Carle; Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn; Sean O’Donnell, Andrej Mezsaros; extras: Bartulis, Walker – while the goaltenders have stayed the same: Micheal Leighton and Brian Boucher.
This Gagne move shows you that the Flyers are doing everything in their power to keep Carter and sign him to a monster contract after this season. Carter could have been the $5-million shipped out with quality coming back to Philadelphia, instead they move Gagne for next to nothing.
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