What Should the Toronto Maple Leafs Do With Wayne Simmonds?

Wayne Simmonds was signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs to fulfill a very specific role and unfortunately for him; he may no longer be a fit.

When the Toronto Maple Leafs added Simmonds, he was meant to serve as the grit and aggression that would intimidate opponents and ultimately not allow the team to be pushed around in the first round.

While he has somewhat achieved that in the sense that teams do think twice as they’ll have to answer the bell with Simmonds; he no longer offers enough to be a regular even on the fourth line.

Clearly the hope when the Toronto Maple Leafs brought him in was he could bring the intangibles while also getting back to his best. After all, at his best, he was a 50 to 60 point player. Even at half his best, that’s strong numbers on the fourth line.

However, he seems to have hit a high watermark of maybe 10 to 15 points per season while significantly slowing up a fourth line that realistically the Leafs may want to see high-tempo pressure from.

It leaves the team with somewhat of a dilemma though as Wayne Simmonds is clearly a character in the locker room and does bring something that nobody else on the Leafs truly does.

Of course, with the addition of Nicolas Aube-Kubel this summer, maybe the Leafs have found his replacement in terms of offering that grit and aggression.

What remains unanswered though is what exactly the Toronto Maple Leafs do with Wayne Simmonds in the meantime. It’s not like they have the luxury of carrying a roster of 23 players and can just plant him in the press-box two to three games a week.

You have to imagine Kyle Dubas will look to do right by Simmonds. After all, he added Jason Spezza and Rich Clune to the team’s staff immediately following their retirement announcements; he seems to look after his hand-picked signings.

Looking ahead to the upcoming campaign though; there seems to only be three real options with Wayne Simmonds – play him, waive him or trade him.

Playing Wayne Simmonds Isn’t An Easy Solution for the Toronto Maple Leafs

An outcome that seems reasonably likely, albeit perhaps the outcome that Toronto Maple Leafs fans might least want.

If the  Leafs are truly keen to overhaul their fourth line and give ample opportunities to the likes of Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Adam Gaudette, Nick Abrusezze and Alex Steeves; they’ll be limited chances for Wayne Simmonds.

Any of the aforementioned names offer somewhat more than Simmonds does at this point of his career.

After all, they could all be relied on to offer something by way of a quicker pace that mirrors the Leafs ‘pressure kill’ tactic that worked so well on their penalty kill last year.

Simmonds can no longer bring a turn of pace to the table and this year won’t have the minor advantage of Jason Spezza alongside him also having lost any real turn of speed.

Perhaps the best way to balance such an approach will be to allow Simmonds to see limited ice-time in a very managed number of games.

In itself it’s not ideal as it will force the Toronto Maple Leafs to carry his cap hit for what are likely to be minimal points contributions.

The clear hope in this scenario is that the fourth line could offer up more than the sum of its individual parts, Wayne Simmonds included.

Question is; should the Toronto Maple Leafs continue down the path of giving Simmonds playing time in the NHL when he proved he can’t be fully trusted in the heat of the moment.

Likewise, does playing him send the wrong message about the playing style the team’s wants to be playing.

Obviously it has worked for the Tampa Bay Lightning having Patrick Maroon and Corey Perry in limited enforcer-type roles but the Leafs could simply opt to outscore rather than concern themselves with winning every nasty, physical battle (something even Simmonds no longer manages every time).

While there is value to icing Simmonds, the growing consensus among the Toronto Maple Leafs fanbase is that he’s never getting close to his past scoring totals and shouldn’t be valued even as a bit-part player on the roster at this point.

Can the Toronto Maple Leafs Waive Wayne Simmonds?

Waiving Wayne Simmonds sounds like a very easy solution for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but realistically such a decision would be a real challenge.

Not least of all because it might very well upset the player and Kyle Dubas in recent times has been seen to try to do right by individuals.

Asking a veteran player to go sit on the bus with the minor-league team is a big ask after all, even if it is absolutely in the best interests of the Toronto Maple Leafs as a whole.

Not least the fact that the player himself has to agree to being waived given his contractual clause, namely a 10-team no move list (per CapFriendly) that allows him the flexibility to make his own decision.

Waivers although different to being traded to another team, I believe, do factor into a no-move clause.

That’s also not to say if he did waive his right to movement, he wouldn’t be picked up by another team. That possibility is certainly unlikely given he’s past his prime, but can’t be totally ruled out.

Perhaps the only insurance policy that Wayne Simmonds would have in this specific scenario is pulling the Jason Spezza card of stating he will retire if his contract lands elsewhere; slightly risky as a team could still call his bluff, but still an option.

Realistically, Wayne Simmonds has been in the NHL long enough that you would doubt he has any appetite to play for the Toronto Marlies.

In fact, doing so would likely come with certain caveats and promises, you’d imagine, just in case the Maple Leafs do then prove strong enough to make a real Stanley Cup run.

Waiving Simmonds only works if you’re about to buy-out his contract and with such measly savings by following that approach, it seems a very unlikely solution to how you handle Wayne Simmonds this season. He’s more likely to remain on the Toronto roster than be waived.