It's only August and we already have to worry about the health of Flyers forward Simon Gagne. Gagne, who had surgery on his hip this offseason, was skating in Team Canada's orientation camp on Monday when he felt tightness in his hip and his groin and was forced to leave practice. The injury isn't considered major but it did force Gagne to leave the camp entirely and return to Philadelphia to be examined by team doctors. All initial reports indicate that Gagne should be fine with a little rest but it's never good when a player re-injures himself in a place he just had surgery.Gagne believes he suffered the injury because he wasn't ready for the tempo and competition of the drills they were doing at the Team Canada camp. As a Flyers fan, I would rather not see a player coming off surgery try to overwork himself in the offseason to make Team Canada, so this minor injury could be a good thing if it allows Gagne to continue to rehab at his own pace.
While it's a relief that Gagne didn't suffer another concussion, something that likely would end his career, it's a situation that should be monitored. With how thin they are on the wings, the Flyers are counting on Gagne to score 25-35 goals on a top scoring line, but, given his injury history, it's always tough to rely on Gagne for anything. While this latest inury news doesn't appear to be a big deal, groin and hip injuries have a way of lingering and causing a player to be less productive.
The Flyers are gonna have to eventually learn to play without Simon. Unfortunately, next year the Flyers are in a bind with the salary cap, having to resign Emery (or another goalie), Coburn, and Parent.
ReplyDeleteGagne will have 1 year left at a reasonable cap hit, and would be the easiest to move (rather than Briere, with 5 years left).
Good news is, van Riemsdyk, hopefully, will step in as a left winger in the top six. Either that, or we bring back Upshall who will be a UFA next summer!
I think we can count on JVR stepping into the Top 6 next year. With his injury history, I'm not sure Gagne is movable, at least not for much return. You are right about the Cap issues next year, I have no clue where they are going to find their next goalie!
ReplyDeleteIn 9 NHL seasons, Gagne has played roughly 70+ games in 7 of them. I wouldn't exactly go nuts with the "injury history" label. The season lost to concussion is a big worry, but he came back and played 79 games last year. And played well. The guy is quietly one of the top two-way players in the game and i don't think Homer will be eager to trade him assuming he is producing as usual. JVR is nothing but a crap shoot at this point.
ReplyDeleteWhen I mentioned other teams being scared off by his injury history, I meant that no team would trade for him because with his next concussion his career is over.
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