The Toronto Maple Leafs announced they have free-agent forward Wayne Simmonds to a two-year contract extension worth $1.8 million. The contract carries a salary-cap hit of $900,000 with a full no-move clause.
The Wayne Train is back! 🚂
Wayne Simmonds has signed a two-year contract extension. #LeafsForever
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) June 29, 2021
Maple Leafs to Bring Back Wayne Simmonds
Over his 13-year NHL career, Simmonds has played for the Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Nashville Predators, Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils and the Leafs. He has put up 258 goals and 250 assists for 508 career points in 947 career games. Los Angeles originally drafted him in the second round, 61st overall of the 2007 NHL Draft.
Last season he scored seven goals and two assists for nine points in 38 games. He also added 45 penalty minutes during the 2020-21 season. His possession numbers were 57.1 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of 5.5.
The Scarborough, Ontario native won the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2018-19 season. He won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championships. Simmonds also was part of the silver-medal winning Canadian squad at the 2017 IIHF World Championships.
What This Means for the Future
The veteran forward signed a one-year deal last offseason to play for his hometown Maple Leafs and it looks like the case again. Fellow veteran Jason Spezza recently came back with an extension last week.
Some thought Simmonds wouldn’t return, but he does provide a veteran presence in the locker room. He can also be called upon to drop the gloves if he has to. Simmonds has been a 30-goal scorer in the NHL twice and scored over 20 goals a few more times. He likely won’t be called upon to score goals, but he may be able to chip in every now and again.
His signing also makes Toronto’s roster picture a little clearer. It’s likely that he’s exposed in the Seattle Kraken expansion draft, but it’s unlikely he gets selected.
