"You just have to understand trades are part of the business."
The move leaves the Flyers top-heavy on defensemen - Walker is the eighth blue-liner signed for next season - and short on quality wingers.
"This was a move to solidify our defense," general manager Paul Holmgren said, adding that the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Walker brings size and toughness to the lineup.
Still, there's no hiding that the deal was made for salary-cap reasons. It enables the Flyers to go from about $1.4 million over the $59.4 million cap to nearly $1.1 million under it.
"It's exciting to be back in a hockey town, for sure, and to play for a team that's always had a certain reputation and a certain style of play," Walker said. "It's a style I've always thought I could contribute to."
Despite losing Gagne, Holmgren said he didn't feel the Flyers needed to upgrade their offense. He is hoping Scott Hartnell bounces back from a subpar season, that newcomer Nik Zherdev is a consistent scorer, and that young players like Claude Giroux, James van Riemsdyk, and Ville Leino continue to blossom and offset Gagne's departure.
"I think we're OK up front," Holmgren said.
Walker, 30, who is signed for the next three seasons at $1.7 million per year, appeared in 66 games for Tampa in 2009-10 and had two goals, three assists, and 90 penalty minutes while registering a minus-11 rating. He sometimes was paired with beefy defenseman Andrej Meszaros, whom the Flyers recently acquired from the Lightning for a second-round pick in 2012.
"Matt Walker is a right-shot defenseman that we like," Holmgren said. "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."
