A while back, I was on here (and PPP) declaring that taking a run at Bobby Ryan wasn’t worth the price, and that the Leafs shouldn’t go after him. Now, we have a new boy of interest in Philadelphia Flyers Left Winger Simon Gagne. Why is he on the market? Because Paul Holmgren went to Dale Tallon and Stan Bowman’s business school of “Disregard The Cap, Sign Everyone”. Presently, the team is in the worst Salary Cap situation in the NHL, at 2.5 million dollars over the Salary Cap, and one could argue that they definitely maybe need a goalie. They have 14 forwards, and a really stacked group of them at that, so they’re in no rush to replace anyone if they have to dump a contract.

The likely odd man out on the team is Simon Gagne. He’s the longest continously-serving member of the team (Brian Boucher may have been there first but didn’t stick with the team the entire stretch, a la Osgood with Detroit). And he’s spent that tenure playing at a continuously high level, even if he’s been oft-injured. So why remove him? Three reasons.

1. The Flyers have evolved. These aren’t the post-Legion of Doom Flyers that tried to take a bit more of a skilled approach to their game. They’re certainly not the Broad Street Bullies of the 70′s either, but they definitely are closer to the latter than the former. Gagne, by far, has the least edge to his game on that team.  Like, very little physical game, and mentally, likes being “just another guy” on the team (he’s noted for declining the captaincy multiple times in the past).

2. As mentioned before, the Flyers are in cap trouble, and they’re going to be looking for the easiest way to clear out that 2.5 million without getting rid of core players. Gagne appears to be that guy, with one of the higher cap hits on the team at 5.25 million, and only a year left on his deal, meaning that a trade should be relatively hassle free, and if they can’t find a suitor, the odds of him being claimed on waivers are high. And even, with both of those failing and the worst case scenario occurring, he wouldn’t be stuck on the Phantoms for long.

3. The timing is perfect to move him. With Ilya Kovalchuk still sitting in a corner going “I want money, and I want it on a competitor”, with 30 teams rolling their eyes, and Mikko Koivu making it so the average free agent is worth 1.65 trillion dollars, a lot of teams may look to trades to make their next big splash. Dare I say, a winger who is worthy of the 1st line when he plays for 5.25 million is a good choice to many. If he bombs, c’est la vie, he’s a UFA the next year and you probably didn’t give up a hell of a treasure chest for him. Paul Holmgren is looking at this market and seeing that while Gagne was never a toxic asset in the first place, this probably highest point he’ll have in terms of value for a while.

That said, we now need to flip this concept. Of course, this article is about the Leafs and any possible interest, right? For one, the big question is if the Leafs actually have interest, and right now, the consensus is non-existant and conflicted. Burke has said “not at this time”, the media says “yes”. Now, Burke is the one actually doing stuff, but at the same time, its hard to say “yes, I’m wanting to trade for a guy I don’t own” when your team gets tampering charges more often than the cafeteria lady that spits in the soup. So, with that said, lets just assume this entire thing is a maybe. Why would the Leafs want him?

1. Left Wing is Bare – I think I’ve stressed this when I’ve argued for pretty much every Left Winger in the NHL to sign here, and I’m going to continue to do so here. The Toronto Maple Leafs are a team that consists of 90% defencemen, 5% centres, and 5% right wingers. Not literally, but it seems like that. At the moment, we have eight defencemen (Kaberle, Phaneuf, Beauchemin, Komisarek, Schenn, Gunnarsson, Finger, Lebda), five players who prefer to call themselves centres (Kadri, Bozak, Grabovski, Hanson, Mitchell), Luca Caputi as our only player who naturally plays Left Wing, and one metric ultraton of right wingers (Kessel, Kulemin, Versteeg, Armstrong, Sjostrom, Orr, Brown). Many of those can play the Left if need be (Versteeg, Kulemin, Sjostrom, Brown), but is not their strongest position. So, if this top 6 wants to produce, wouldn’t it make sense to at least get one guy who likes playing in that spot? It doesn’t matter as much in the bottom 6 where the potential dropoff from playing the wrong wing is next to nothing, a top 6 forward playing where he’s uncomfortable can be brutal.

2. The price isn’t that high – the Flyers are looking for cap relief, and they’re not in a position of strength in a trade negotiation. Any team dealing with them will undoubtedly get a discount from Gagne’s actual trade value, which is questionable anyway.

3. This team can afford to take a chance – Yes, we’re talking about the same Simon Gagne who’s been injured more times than Kenny McCormick has died. Yes, that would be a problem if he had a few years left. But that’s the best part – he doesn’t. At the worst case scenario – he gets injured, and it sucks until the end of the year when his contract comes off the books, at which point if they want to further take a chance, they can sign him to a discounted deal. At the best case scenario, however, you get the near point-per-game Gagne we saw in 08/09 and in the later rounds of this years playoffs.

Of course, there’s one issue with this entire plan, and that’s the fact that the Leafs have next to no cap space themselves, with 1.1 million remaining. There are two things to consider though – that the team doesn’t have to immediately be under the cap, with the summer cap exemption existing until September, meaning that we don’t have to make cap-clearance moves before bringing him in. Secondarily, it’s not an incredible stretch to say he could be squeaked in – Waiving Jeff Finger and sending one of our younger forwards (Irwin or Caputi) saves the team approximately 4.4 million dollars, meaning the Leafs would have 300,000 to spare. Really, really risky, but possible. And this doesn’t even consider the ever-so-rumored Tomas Kaberle trade (as long as he himself isn’t part of the deal).

With all of this considered, I think Gagne would be one of the better options the Leafs could look at this year, especially if he manages to stay healthy. Could you imagine a Gagne – Whoever – Kessel line next year? Some legitimacy in our top 6, for once. And if it bombs? Better luck next year, we’re not tied forever. If the rumours are indeed true that Philly is desperate, this has to be a route one looks at.