Report: Teams cooling on trade target Simmonds

The pending UFA has been coveted by several teams, but NHL insider Bob McKenzie reports that GMs are now scared off.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Report: Teams cooling on trade target Simmonds
Zuma Press

Ever since Chuck Fletcher was hired to replace former Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall, Flyers fans and analysts have been counting down the days until forward Wayne Simmonds is traded.

Simmonds is in the final year of a contract that pays him just $3.97 million per season and could command as much as $6 million or more per season on a new deal. He doesn’t seem to fit into the Flyers’ long term plans and now Fletcher has a tough decision to make. Keep Simmonds for the stretch drive and try to sign him to a team friendly deal before he hits free agency or ship him out prior to the NHL’s February 25th deadline to recoup some assets before he leaves for nothing. 

“I think it’s probably more likely than not that Wayne Simmonds gets traded, but it’s not an absolutely slam dunk and the door is still open for Philadelphia to try and sign him,” said TSN and NBC analyst Bob McKenzie earlier this month. “Listen, things have not gone well for the Philadelphia Flyers. It’s an absolute disaster, is what it is, versus what they thought they were going to be this year.”

The Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames, Nashville Predators and Minnesota Wild have all been linked to Simmonds in trade talks, but earlier today McKenzie again reported that the market seems to have cooled on Simmonds.

When asked on Twitter what the current market is like for Simmonds, McKenzie responded that scouts have been “cautious” with their recent reviews on the power forward.

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No doubt that Simmonds would give the a boost to whichever team he ends up on, but anyone counting on him to be a top point producer and a top line player needs to manage their expectations. Having said that, Simmonds is a versatile player who can have a positive impact regardless of his point production. Despite the recent cooling of the market, look for at least one of the teams mentioned above to go all in on Simmonds.

Source: Bob McKenzie