Gagne rips Holmgren for 'slap in the face'

Left winger Simon Gagne sharply criticized Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren in an interview with LaPresse, saying he was misled about getting a contract.

Gagne, 33, who has said he wants to finish his career with the Flyers, is an unrestricted free agent who is searching for a team.

"All summer, the Philadelphia Flyers kept hinting that they wanted to offer me a new contract, and I even told Robert Sauve, my agent, not to negotiate with other teams," Gagne told LaPresse. "We trusted them. We put all our eggs in one basket and we got caught. We never thought we'd be stuck in this situation at this time of the year."

Holmgren said he never offered a contract to Gagne.

Gagne said when he heard Tuesday that the Flyers were offering a tryout contract to winger Dan Cleary, "it was like a slap in the face. I'm disappointed."

Cleary reconsidered the Flyers' invitation and resigned with Detroit.

"I knew that hockey was a business, but with all the positive discussions we had with Paul Holmgren, I can't believe I'm not back with them," said Gagne, who was drafted by the Flyers in 1998 and has spent parts of 11 seasons with the organization.

Gagne said had trained hard in the summer and that "I've got good hockey to give."

"We discussed it, and it didn't work out," Holmgren said of offering a tryout contract to Gagne.

The Flyers could not offer Gagne a regular contract because they currently don't have cap room.

After Cleary turned down the Flyers, Holmgren said, he decided to have the young players in the organization battle for a forward opening.

Follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter @BroadStBull.