A passing of an era is happening, and the news isn't even getting mentioned. There are only two players left on the ice who skated on the same team as Wayne Gretzky. There are also a few still skating in the KHL and Europe, but only two left in the NHL (check me if I am wrong, I may have missed somebody)

Manny Malhotra and Mike Knuble and Alexei Kovalev all played on the 1998-1999 NY Rangers with Wayne Gretzky. Alexi Kovalev played with the NY Rangers the year before also. Sad news concerning Manny Malhotra today out of Vancouver, and that leaves just Knuble and Kovalev.

Both Knuble ($700k) and Kovalev ($1m) are on one year contracts, and I have serious doubts Knuble will be back with the Flyers next year. It's just as likely that Kovalev will take whatever he has left in the tank after this year and go to Europe, instead of playing for $800k (or close to that) next year.