Surprising tweet. KPD isn't some hack. Hockey Hall of Famer. The asterisk of "my hockey pal thinks" is a huge one, though.
Problem is, there are no insiders in Philly anymore. Hextall shut them all out when he took over. He has run things very close to the chest. The "hockey pal" is probably one of the many terrible beat writers in the area that are now forced to create false speculation because they have no inside information.
Gaudreau to Philly is not feasable in any way, as much as I would love to have the kid.
Just for fun though..
Simmonds (3 years left at $3.95 million) + Sanheim + Streit @ 25% retained (Cap dump - 1 year left at $3.93 million after retention)
Calgary takes on $7.8 million for 1 season and then the savings kick in the 2nd season. They'd also be replacing a veteran salary on their defense with Sanheim's $863K Entry-Level contract for 3 years. That's additional savings.
Calgary is solid on the left side of their defense right now with Brodie and Giordano, but Gio is already 33 years old and might not make it to the end of his contract. Sanheim can play the left on the bottom pair at first (starting in 17-18 after 1 year in the AHL) then move up into the top 4 on the right until he can permanently shift back to the left once Gio retires or regresses in 3-5 years).
Welp, that was fun.