We'll miss you, Gagne

It shouldn't have been like this. Not after ten years, and especially not after he came back from his broken foot to help get the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Finals. However, it did happen this way. Today, the Philadelphia Flyers traded Simon Gagne to the Tampa Bay Lightning for defenseman Matt Walker and a fourth round pick in next year's NHL Draft.

From a player for player perspective, the Flyers lost out on this trade big time. Gagne has been a proven player in this league for years, while Walker is tough defenseman, but contributes little on the offensive side of the puck. In seven NHL seasons, Walker has a total of four goals and 26 assists. That's not exactly the kind of production that the Flyers need to replace Gagne. This move reeks of a salary cap dump, and that's exactly what it is, because earlier in the month, the team made a move that made trading Gagne almost necessary.

On July 9th, the Flyers signed Nikolai Zherdev to a one year, two million dollar contract that put them over the salary cap for next season. With Gagne's contract still on the books, the Flyers had to make room for Zherdev, who was the fourth overall pick in the 2003 Draft. Zherdev has talent, but he's never shown the maturity and leadership that Gagne has shown on the ice in his career. It's going to take a lot for Flyers fans to accept him over Gagne, you can believe that much. Considering Zherdev has already played for two NHL teams, and one KHL team in Russia, you have to wonder how much his heart is into the game. When you look at Gagne, you don't have to question his heart. You know what you're getting the second he steps onto the ice.

Honestly, this doesn't look like a great move for the Flyers right now. Gagne was one of the biggest reasons that they made it to their first Stanley Cup Final since 1997, and Zherdev has shown little to prove that he can replace him in every way, shape and form. Gagne was a leader on the ice as well as off it, and his toughness is going to go down in Flyers history. I have no idea what Paul Holmgren was thinking with this move, save for it being to save salary cap space, since Matt Walker can't hold Gagne's jockstrap out on the ice. To see Simon Gagne go, in this manner, really hurts. He deserved better. He really did. Now, the Flyers are left without one of their leaders and with expectations that they can make it back to where they were last season. This upcoming season isn't going to be that fun, but that's just how I feel about it right now.

I wish you the best of luck, Gagne. It's rough to see you leave, especially in a trade like this.

CSNPhilly: Gagne traded to Lightning