Flyers trade popular forward Simmonds to Predators
VOORHEES >> Wayne Simmonds was traded to the Nashville Predators on Monday, meaning he’ll have a much better chance to win a Stanley Cup this season than will those Flyers friends he leaves behind.
Simmonds was traded just three minutes prior to the 3 p.m. league deadline, according to Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher, and the deal was announced several minutes later. In return, the Flyers received Ryan Hartman, who has but 10 goals and 20 points in 64 Nashville games this season.
The deal also sees a conditional fourth-round draft pick go to Philadelphia, which becomes a thirdrounder if Nashville wins a series in the upcoming playoffs ... which it should.
Simmonds, 30, is hoping the Predators win a lot more than that this spring.
“I knew going into this year, being a UFA at the end, that there was a possibility I could be traded at any point during the season,” Simmonds said in an interview televised on Canadian sports cable network TSN. “I think it’s crazy how it manifested, how it came down to the last second. It’s nerve-racking, exciting and sad at the same time because I’ve been in Philadelphia for so long. I feel like a part of this community and this team. But I’m definitely excited and can’t wait to get started.
“They have a great organization,” Simmonds added about the Preds. “Top notch; I’ve heard nothing but the best about them . ... I’m just hoping to be another piece of the puzzle and fit in and hopefully win a championship.
“That’s always the main goal.”
A former first-round pick of Chicago, Hartman is just 24, and two seasons ago he scored 19 goals for the Blackhawks. He fell off to eight goals last season in just 57 games and was promptly traded to Nashville at the June draft.
Hartman brings only an $875,000 cap hit, but is scheduled to be a restricted free agent after the season. Offensively, he’s been a bit of a disappointment in Nashville, but has contributed a physical, antagonizing edge resulting in 44 penalty minutes while putting up a plus-7 rating. Presumably, he’ll fit on a third line with the Flyers at right wing.
Simmonds fit well there, too. Used differently on the power play, his usual level of production had slipped, scoring 16 goals and 27 points in 62 games. He was still a player that even newbie interim coach Scott Gordon hates to see go.
“He makes everybody in the locker room a lot braver,” Gordon said of Simmonds. “He’s got everybody’s back. He’s a guy that can do that but at the same time play and contribute offensively. He’s a great presence in the room, he’s a great presence on the bench. Those guys are hard to find.”
In eight seasons with the Flyers, Simmonds scored 203 goals and 378 points, and was considered one of the team’s very best of leaders. He is also a pending unrestricted free agent and negotiations toward a contract extension went nowhere with Fletcher.