Gagne Asked to Waive No-Trade-Clause; Rumored Blockbuster Trade a Bust

‚ÄúNot sure who started this. I have not been on the radio, Fan 590, or anywhere else talking about a big trade. Someone’s imagination at work.‚Äù

TSN’s Dan Dreger tweeted this after rumors began circulating that Dreger announced a blockbuster trade was in the works between Philadelphia and Los Angeles if the Kings were able to sign free agent Ilya Kovalchuk to the ridiculous contract offers he’s been trying to negotiate. The 27-year old winger played eight seasons with the Atlanta Thrashers before being traded to the New Jersey Devils this past season.  Kovalchuk had been asking for $10 million or more per year from the Thrashers with the goal of being the highest paid player in the NHL. The Thrashers even extended this insane amount of money to Kovy, but he also wanted to play in a major hockey market and rejected the offer.

Currently, the New York Islanders and the Kings are the two teams currently “in” on Kovalchuk.  The rumor that spread yesterday evening was that if the Kings were to sign Kovy, they would have to dump a large amount of salary to fit him under the cap.  The Kings would send star center Anze Kopitar, winger and captain Dustin Brown, solid defenseman Jack Johnson, and starting goaltender (USA Olympic goaltender #3) Jonathan Quick to the Flyers for Simon Gagne, Jeff Carter, and another player.

This trade makes absolutely no sense for the Kings, and I would not expect to see anything like this go down in the next couple of days.  The truth, however, is that Gagne was indeed asked to waive his no-trade clause on Friday and he reportedly waived it.  It’s possible that Gagne may be on the starting roster next season, but by all indications he will not be donning the orange and black for awhile.

You could make the argument that with his concussion history, his groin injuries, and his up-and-down play in recent years that losing Gagne and his $5.25 million cap hit makes some sense, and you’d be right.  For many Flyers fans, though, Gagne is as much a face of the organization as captain Mike Richards, and certainly its heart.  Gagne has been a Flyer since the 1999-2000 series and is a remnant of the Lindros era.  The only consolation that I take from this news is that I don’t see the Flyers management making any move unless something substantial is coming back the other way.  In addition, Gagne has one year left on his current contract.  Who’s to say that general manager Paul Holmgren didn’t talk to Gagne about signing him again next year?