Column: Bolts' reward is worth risk with Gagne

On the eve of free agency a few weeks ago, Steve Yzerman sat on a couch inside the Forum and gave his best "aw shucks" take on how he planned to proceed. Don't expect much of a splash, he said. The plan was to take it slow.

It's all about the future, he said. Tampa Bay Lightning's new general manager had a few ideas to improve his team, but nothing to shake the earth. These things take time now, don't they?

This just in: Don't play poker with Stevie Y.

There has been a whole lot of shakin' on Channelside Drive by a GM who won't stop making moves. Yzerman did it again Monday, acquiring Flyers winger Simon Gagne for under-performing defenseman Matt Walker and a fourth-round draft pick.

Gagne is 30, which is becoming a common thread for Yzerman's moves so far.

Goalie Dan Ellis, signed from Nashville on the opening day of free agency, also is 30. Defensemen Pavel Kubina (33) and Brett Clark (33) came on board. Marty St. Louis (35) got a four-year contract extension.

I'm usually skeptical about committing much of anything to over-30s, especially in a sport as physical as hockey. It's often a short-term fix that means long-term trouble. This is a Band-Aid too, I guess, but Yzerman made it clear that won't interfere with the bigger plan to build the right way. Take solace in that.

Without turning this column into a primer on the NHL salary cap, Yzerman points out that adding Gagne's $5.25 million salary this season actually makes it easier to lock up young Steven Stamkos long term. The other newcomers are signed to manageable two-year deals.

And if anyone deserves big bucks at this stage of his career, it's certainly Marty St. Hockey.

It's an interesting way to go about his business, though. Yzerman told the world he'll build the Bolts through scouting and player development, then acquired four 30-plus guys. And to clear space on the salary abacus, he added a guy who will be the third-highest paid player on the team.

It might seem like a backward way to build, but it makes sense.

No, it really does.

Getting older now allows the Bolts the chance to be more competitive immediately. Nothing's worse than a three-year building plan that calls for lots of losing, especially when fans have been forced to swallow lots of losing already.

It's tricky and I'm not sure I agree with all of it, but there is a plan there and that's refreshing to see. While wandering in the wasteland the past three seasons, the Bolts' plan seemed to be drawn up on the back of a napkin with a felt-tip pen that promptly ran.

Of course, that all goes sour if Gagne can't play at least 65 games or Ellis proves to be just the latest dancer in the long, sad conga line the Bolts have paraded in net. Gagne comes equipped with his own boxed set of medical records.

He missed 57 games in 2007-08 because of concussion symptoms. He missed the first 24 games last season after abdominal surgery. A broken toe cost him four playoff games last season. Go back a few years and he missed a lot of time because of a groin injury and another concussion.

"Obviously the risk is in the injuries he has had and the time he has missed. We did as much homework as we could," Yzerman said. "We know what we're getting in the player and the risk involved."

When Gagne is on the ice, there is a chance for magic. With Philly down 3-love to Boston in the playoffs this spring, he scored the winning goal in overtime in Game 4 to keep the Flyers alive. He scored the clincher in Game 7 to complete the comeback.

He is capable of providing 30 goals, and wouldn't that have a real nice ripple effect on young Stamkos - on Vinny Lecavalier, too.

Yzerman said he's not done tinkering yet. He has about $10 million in cap room and he said he has a hankering to add a forward or two. Naturally, that means he'll add defensemen. Just kidding.

Watching him work in the short time he has been here, it's clear that the Bolts' new GM is decisive, focused and knows what he wants to accomplish. It's interesting to see the plan take shape.

Stay alert, though. If he breaks out a deck for a friendly game of poker and the ground starts to shake, run away, run away, run away.