It appears as though an era is about to come to end in Philadelphia. Again... We've gotten used to saying goodbye to long tenured, popular Eagles but we haven't had to say goodbye to a Flyers great in a while. Anthony SanFilippo is reporting that the Flyers have asked Simon Gagne to waive his no trade clause and that Simon has done so.
I spoke with several NHL sources today, all of whom confirmed that the Flyers have in fact asked Simon Gagne to waive his no trade clause. One source close to both Gagne and the Flyers confirmed that Gagne has in fact agreed to waive it.
He also reports that the Flyers have apparently been speaking with the LA Kings about a possible deal for the 30 year old forward. It's been speculated all offseason that the Flyers would look to move one of their high priced forwards for cap space, but it became pretty apparent it would happen when the Flyers spent right up to the cap on the first day of free agency without filling all their needs. Namely, goalie.
The most likely candidates for trade were Gagne and Jeff Carter. Both are set to be free agents next season. With Carter being only 25 years old and given Gagne's recent injury history, Simon seems to be the odd man out. Broad Street Hockey talked about Gagne's possible departure earlier today, before the news about the NTC being waived even broke.
It'll be interesting to see what kind of value Flyers' GM Paul Holmgren can get in return. While Gagne has been injury prone in recent years, his playoff performance this season proves he's still got plenty left in the tank and is still a reliable goal scorer. However, he is in the final year of his contract, is a owed a big number at $5.25 million, and the Flyers are obviously looking to dump salary.