The Philadelphia Flyers are having an excellent year when they were expected to have a tough one when the season began.
Although they are worried about hanging onto their current playoff spot, they will honor a great from the past.
Wayne Simmonds will sign a one-day contract to retire with the Flyers and celebrate his career on April 13th at Wells Fargo Center.
Simmonds was initially a draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings. They selected him in the second round (61st overall) in the 2007 NHL Draft.
Wayne Simmonds was a very good NHL player for a long time
He played for the Kings for three seasons before heading to the Flyers in the trade that sent Mike Richards to L.A. He then played for the Flyers for the next eight years.
In 2019, the Flyers traded him to the Nashville Predators when they began to retool their roster. He then had a cup of coffee with the New Jersey Devils, Buffalo Sabres, and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Throughout his career with these teams, Simmonds played in 1037 games where he scored 263 goals and had 263 assists for 526 points. 378 of those points came while wearing the orange and black.
Although he was never a superstar, there were a few years during his Flyers tenure when he was one of the best power forwards in the NHL.
He used his intelligence, skill, and strength to find good scoring areas and he did a great job creating that for himself. If a puck was loose in front of the net, Simmonds was going to beat his opponent to it more often than not.
During those good years, he was especially good on the power play as the net-front guy. With some of the great playmakers that the Flyers had during that time, he was in a great spot. He managed to score 91 power-play goals during his time in the NHL.
Now, after playing 15 seasons in the NHL, it is time for him to celebrate what he was able to accomplish. That game on April 13th will come against the New Jersey Devils where he spent some time. It will be cool to see him get his flowers.
Being a good power forward for that long is not easy in the NHL and he managed to do it. He should be proud. He will see how loved he is when he is honored next month.