If Gagne’s Price Lowers, Flyers Could Have Interest
When the Tampa Bay Lightning’s season abruptly ended on May 27, the clock representing Simon Gagne’s remaining time in Florida began to tick down.
With the July 1 unrestricted free agent deadline approaching and the high-priced, oft-injured winger concluding a deal that paid him over $26 million in five years, Gagne, 31, could be looking at a new home or possibly even an old one.
“Gagne, I’d say slim,” said Lightning beat reporter Erik Erlendsson on Twitter, when asked the chances of the player’s return to Tampa.
However, in going anywhere, Gagne — who has averaged just 56 games a year in the past four seasons, labeled concussion prone and entering the latter part of his 11-year career — will have to take a pay cut. That little fact will have teams around the league, including the Flyers, wondering just how much the clutch performer will go for on the market.
But if Flyers fans and rumor mongers believe the former first-round pick in the 1998 NHL Draft would take less money to come back to the team who drafted him before anywhere else, they might be surprised to hear that if Gagne does take less money to play, it could be right back with the Lightning.
“I believe that [the Lightning] are going to get better,” Gagne told ESPN Tampa Bay. “This organization was actually really really good this year. This thing is only going to get better. This is definitely a place that I would like to be back. We will see what happens in the next couple weeks.”
The reason Gagne would look to the Lightning out of the gate is because he hand-picked them in the first place. Traded on July 19, 2010 by the Flyers for defenseman Matt Walker and a fourth-round draft pick, Gagne’s no-trade clause gave him say to where he would head next. He chose Tampa Bay.
“From Day 1, before I got traded, I was looking at teams and seeing what [Lightning general manager] Steve Yzerman did in the offseason, I had a lot of confidence in that,” Gagne said. “Knowing that Vinny [Lecavalier] was here, knowing that Marty [St. Louis] and [Steven] Stamkos were here, you know the foundation was already strong. And adding some good role guys and some good veterans around them, you knew that something good was going to happen. And with the way the season started, you knew that something good was going to happen.”
While the Flyers are far removed as front-runners for Gagne, especially considering their limited salary cap space and many more pressing needs, it’s still a possibility should the former player’s demands become more than reasonable and a roster opening pops up. If the Flyers make a larger deal or fail to get a contract finalized with winger Ville Leino, general manager Paul Holmgren could be in the market for an affordable replacement.
That’s if Yzerman doesn’t pull the trigger first.
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