Boston Bruins trade target: Flyers’ forward Wayne Simmonds
The Boston Bruins are a storied franchise that has a history and reputation of being big and bad. Well who in the NHL is bigger or badder than Wayne Simmonds?
Let me preface this article with this: this Boston Bruins team, as currently comprised, is a good team. I thought before the season started that the Bruins could legitimately compete for the top spot not only in the Atlantic Division, but in the Eastern Conference. Injuries have somewhat derailed that a bit, and the unreal play of Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos has Tampa Bay running away with the Division. But just because a team is good, doesn’t mean that it couldn’t get better, right?
The Philadelphia Flyers stink right now. They have lots of talent, but can’t seem to play together as a team. The top line of Claude Giroux-Sean Couturier-Jakub Voracek are the only consistent producing line they have. They had a ten game losing streak, and currently sit at 10-11-7, 27 points. Rumor has it, a move for Wayne Simmonds could be in the team’s future if they continue to struggle this season.
The Wayne Train in Boston?
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Personally, I think Wayne Simmonds could take this Bruins team from a good team, to a great team. I’ll put it to you this way: what current NHL player plays the game more like Bruins legend Cam Neely than Wayne Simmonds? We all saw his heavyweight bout with Kevan Miller last game. But that’s the best thing about Simmonds. He’s more than just a tough guy. He’ll score you two power play goals and pick up an assist in one period, and then throw down and scrap with someone to protect a teammate in the next period.
But Simmonds can not only produce offensively, he’s durable. He’s played at least 75 games in his last four seasons, and scored 29, 28, 32, and 31 goals in those seasons. He also regularly plays left and right wing, and can play on the power play, meaning he is incredibly versatile. Can you imagine a Simmonds-Krejci-Pastrnak or Marchand-Bergeron-Simmonds line? Unreal.
He is under contact until 2018-2019 at an average annual value of $3.975 million, making his contract incredibly team friendly for at least one more season. He’s currently 29, and likely in store for a raise after next season. That’s obviously one of the dangers in trading for him, is he could only last for one more year. He also has a modified no-trade clause, meaning he can submit a 12 team no-trade list, so there’s always a chance Boston is on that list.
Plus, I imagine Philadelphia’s asking price for a perennial 30-goal threat would be steep. The Flyers’ woes appear to be all-over the ice, so there’s no telling what sort of pieces they would want in return. And to make it work financially, the team would finally have to do what fans have been calling for, and waive Matt Beleskey and his $3.8 million mistake of a contract.
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The Bruins have a stacked stable of young talent both up-front and on the back-end. So much so that the NHL roster is becoming clustered with young talent. The question then becomes whether it’s worth moving some those pieces to bring him in.
That decision obviously rests with Don Sweeney, Cam Neely, and the coaching staff. But based on the good-old fashioned “eye-test,” there’s no other player in the NHL that I feel is more appropriate for a Bruins jersey. If there’s a chance to bring him in, I personally think it should happen.