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.

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Walker, acquired in the offseason from the Tampa Bay Lightning as the key return in the Simon Gagne trade, was set to make $1.7 million per season for the next three years. The move could act as a precursor for a roster addition, as Walker’s cap space, matched with the space received from waived goaltender Michael Leighton, gives the Flyers around $3 million of free space.

Joining the Flyers prior to training camp, Walker was hampered with hip injuries which began toward the end of the preseason. The tough blue liner with a right-handed shot needed two separate surgeries on both the left and right hip, which kept him out of the line up for much of the season. Walker played his first game of the year on Jan.18, then played three more after that, before the return of Chris Pronger forced Walker back into a depth position.

Nearly two months since having surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip, the Flyers defenseman now needs left hip surgery and is expected to miss a minimum of six weeks.

Walker, 30, was participating in a conditioning stint with the Adirondack Phantoms on Sunday before the Flyers, on Monday, unexpectedly placed the seven-year veteran on injured reserve.

Acquired in the trade that sent forward Simon Gagne to the Tampa Bay Lightning, Walker, who hurt his hip in the preseason and underwent surgery on Oct. 20, has yet to play a game with the Flyers.

The Tampa Bay Lightning wanted nothing more than to take home a win in Philadelphia for former Flyers and current Lightning forward Simon Gagne.

It’s safe to say Gagne left his old hometown happy.

Pavel Kubina’s goal early in the third period would serve as the game-winner, as Tampa Bay handed Philadelphia it’s first regulation loss of the season, 3-2, Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Gagne, who was traded to Tampa in the offseason for defenseman Matt Walker, played 16 minutes and was held scoreless with a minus-1. Walker has yet to play a game with the Flyers.

With the game locked at one in the second period,  a Matt Carle turnover and bad rebound by goaltender Brian Boucher ended up on the stick of Tampa’s Dominic Moore, who took the original shot then finished it five-hole to give his team the 2-1 lead going into the third.

Boucher’s five-hole was once again found, this time early in the third period by Kubina, who blasted a ice-level slap shot through traffic and the wickets of Boucher, to give Tampa the 3-1 advantage.

Danny Briere cut the Lightning lead to one midway through the final stanza, when, after a strong shift in the Tampa zone, he wristed one past Dan Ellis. It was Briere’s third of the season.

Nik Zherdev got his first of the year, when he tied the game at one in the first period on a JVR cross pass that hit the crashing Ukrainian and into the net.

The Good

Flyers’ Penalty Kill — Coming into Thursday’s contest, the Flyers had killed off 15-of-17 man-down situations and scored two short-handed goals. And they kept rolling against the Lighting. The Flyers’ penalty killers limited Tampa’s talented man-advantage to no goals in six attempts and received shorthanded chances of their own from Claude Giroux and Mike Richards. The Flyers are currently sitting in the top tier of the NHL in penalty kill, shutting down 23 of it’s last 25 for a 91.3% kill rate.

Simon Gagne Tribute — Giving 10 seasons to the Philadelphia Flyers organization, Simon Gagne was treated as the man-of-honor on Thursday. The team played a highlight tribute video during a TV timeout in the first period, which drew a chilling standing ovation. Classy move by the Flyers and the fans, who have the reputation of hating everything and everyone.

Danny Briere — Danny Briere’s tally in the third period was his third goal in four games. In an offense that hasn’t been consistent, especially on the power play, Briere’s point production at center has been godsend for the Flyers and could keep them afloat until special teams heats up.

The Bad

Matt Carle — It should be noted that aside from Thursday’s loss against Tampa, the 26-year-old blue liner has had a very good start to the 2010-11 season. But it wasn’t pretty in this one. In the first period, Carle let Steve Stamkos beat him to the top of the crease and it led to a goal. In the second period, Carle’s turnover led to the original shot by Dominic Moore, then, Moore beat Carle to the rebound for another goal. Carle led the team with two giveaways and a was a minus-1. Not a good game from a good player.

Brian Boucher — In his second start of the season, Brian Boucher looked like a back-up goaltender. Although skater turnovers didn’t help his cause, Boucher left a bad rebound to Dominic Moore, who then trickled a weak shot through Boucher’s legs. The soft goal led to another in the third period, when Boucher had another shot go through his legs and in, this time from the blue line past traffic. Boucher made 21 saves on 24 shots and had the home crowd lightly chanting “Bob” for 22-year-old rookie Sergei Bobrovsky.

Flyers’ Power play —  Unable to set up the play, get shots through traffic or simply not turn the puck over, the Flyers look like a team that has to go back to the drawing board on the man advantage. Going 0-for-4 on Thursday, including the botching of a nearly full two-minute 5-on-3 power play early in the first, Philadelphia is now just 1-for-17 on the season, hitting at a 5.9% pace. That ranks them 27 of 30 teams.

Dan Carcill0 — Has anyone seen Dan Carcillo? Not the one, who in the last few games has been unable to keep up with his offensive line mates, but the one who would literally try to rip the heads off the opposition. Carcillo has seven hits, no fighting majors and no points in the first four games of the season, while averaging an ever-shrinking 8:25 of ice time a game. Carcillo needs to be an animal to be effective and he’s simply not contributing.

The Interesting

Steve Downie — Tampa forward Steve Downie, drafted 25th overall by the Flyers in 2005, has become the type of player that the Flyers had hoped Dan Carcillo could be. Gritty, angry and able to put up points, Downie received a fighting major (with Sean O’Donnell) and two key assists, propelling his team to victory.

Tampa Bay Lightning — The organization that has been left for dead the past few seasons, is now 3-0 on the year and has done so in impressive fashion.

The tribute video, thanks to The 700 Level.

The video debuted during a TV timeout in the first period and was followed by a standing ovation and curtain call by Gagne.

With sadness but understanding, the wait is mercifully over — the Flyers have officially traded forward Simon Gagne to the Tampa Bay Lightning for defenseman Matt Walker and a fourth round pick in the 2011 NHL entry draft.

Gagne, 30, was coveted by new Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman, who fell in love with the two-way forward while playing for Team Canada together in the 2002 Winter Olympics.  Gagne will likely play beside his friend Vincent Lecavalier.

Matt Walker, 30, makes $1.7 million through the 2012-13 season.  He has good size at 6’3, 215 lbs., and uses it effectively to punish the opposition.  However, Walker has never played more than 66 games in a season.  He ranked second on Tampa’s roster in blocked shots with 116 and averaged just over 16 minutes per game of ice time.

“This was a move to solidify our defense,” Holmgren said. “Matt Walker is a right shot defenseman that we like. He brings size, grit and toughness to our backend.”

The acquisition of Walker gives the Flyers seven capable defensemen, not counting Oskars Bartulis.  Walker will either be the seventh rear guard or another move may be brewing to create space on the crowded Philadelphia blue line.

“My initial reaction was pure excitement,” said Walker. “To find out that I was coming to Philly, I don’t know if I would say it was a life-long dream, but I’ve always wanted to play in Philly and I thought I would be a good fit there.”

With the money the Flyers had already spent over the salary cap, the Gagne deal nets them just over a million in space.

Gagne, a four-time 30-goal scorer, played ten seasons in Philadelphia after being drafted 22nd overall by the Flyers in the 1998 NHL draft.  He scored 524 points in 664 games played in the Orange and Black.  A fan favorite for his ability to produce in the clutch, Gagne, in the final year of a deal that would owe him $5.25 million, was designated by the organization as a cap casualty. But as he had shown always during his career, Gagne treated the potentially abrasive situation with nothing but class.  He  waived his no-trade clause without fuss, allowing the Flyers to move forward without issue.

“Simon Gagne played 10 seasons for the Flyers and was not only a good player for us, but also handled himself in a first class manner on and off the ice, Holmgren said.”

As expected, the Flyers have officially signed forward Nikolai Zherdev to a one-year deal worth $2 million.

Zherdev, 25, is a 6’2, 203 lbs. skill forward with incredible hands and an uncanny ability to finish.  Armed with a great deal of natural scoring ability, the Ukrainian’s naysayers have stated that despite his skill, he is a head case with a lazy work ethic.  The Flyers hope that a steady organization with a high-paced offensive game helps Zherdev gain some consistency.

“Nik is a highly skilled player who, at 25-years-old, we feel will be a good fit to our core of forwards,” said Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren.  “Prior to playing last season in Russia, Nik ranked as one of the top young point-producers in the NHL. We are pleased to add him to our team.”

After putting up 61 points in 82 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2007-08, Zherdev moved to the New York Rangers, where he put up 58 points in 82 games.  As a restricted free agent looking to make big money, Zherdev took the Rangers to arbitration in 2009.  However, the Rangers refused to pay up and let the sniper walk.  With limited options and seeking a big payday, the former fourth overall selection by the Blue Jackets in the 2007 NHL draft, signed with Atlant of the KHL for the 2009-10 season.

Zherdev is expected to replace forward Simon Gagne, who, as a cap casualty, is on the trading block with one year left on his $5.25 million contract.

In an interview with RDS.ca, Flyers forward Simon Gagne stated in French that he has not waived his no-trade clause.

This goes against recent reports by the Philadelphia media that Gagne had indeed waived his right to restrict a trade and had given the Flyers a list of teams he would accept a trade to.

In a rough (grain of salt) translation of his answer when asked about waiving his NTC, he says …

“I have a no-trade clause, and I have not waived it. It’s certain that, from the Flyers standpoint, they have a salary cap problem, and I’m a player nearing the end of his contract. We’ll see what happens for me over the next few days.”

Although, it should be noted that Gagne said specifically that he has not, not that he will not waive his NTC.

Gagne, 30, is in the final year of a$5.25 million deal, which makes him a prime target to be a cap casualty for the money-strapped Flyers.

UPDATE: Gathering information on the situation, it seems that nothing has changed from before the interview with RDS.  Simon Gagne is “open” to waiving his NTC.  Tim Panaccio stands by his report that Gagne will waive his NTC to go to the L.A. Kings.  However, the Flyers forward is simply in agreement with the organization but has not officially waived his right.

However, a trade is not expected to be imminent.

A tough but necessary move by the Flyers, who have less than a million left in salary cap space with restricted free agents Dan Carcillo and Darroll Powe still left unsigned.

Gagne, 30, still has one year left on a contract that would pay him $5.25 million.  He scored 17 goals and 23 points in 58 games last season.

UPDATE: According to Anthony SanFilippo, Gagne has agreed to waive his NTC.

What started as a simple offseason possibility has grown into something much bigger.

After a free-agent period in which the Flyers spent over nine million on Braydon Coburn, Andrej Meszaros, Sean O’Donnell and Jody Shelley, it is now being reported by multiple sources that Flyers forward Simon Gagne is expected to become a cap causality.

Former general manager and now Sportsnet.ca analyst Doug Maclean, states via Twitter that it’s just a matter of time.

“According to a Flyer source Gagne has played his last game as a Flyer.”

The same was reported by Sportsnet.ca’s Nick Kypreos, who said …

“Talk of Flyers trying to unload Gagne’s contract to soften cap number. A source confirmed his name was brought up in the Tampa talks.”

Gagne, 30, has a no trade clause and is accompanied by a salary cap hit of $5.25 million for one more season. And due to available cap space, will not likely be re-signed beyond next season.  As a result, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren may opt to trade the veteran fan favorite over some younger players, primarily Jeff Carter.

Gagne, who was drafted in the first round by the Flyers in 1998 and ranks as one of the longest tenured Philadelphia athletes, has totaled 524 points in 664 games with the Flyers.