Toronto Maple Leafs Once Again Waive Wayne Simmonds
The Toronto Maple Leafs have placed veteran forward Wayne Simmonds on waivers for the third time this season.
Like Jason Spezza before him, the Toronto Maple Leafs are using a player’s reluctance to play elsewhere to help them play the cap system in to their favor.
The 34-year old has managed to get through waivers twice already this season without being claimed, but the question is will he make it a third time.
Most likely he will.
Toronto Maple Leafs and Wayne Simmonds
Simmonds has suited up in just 13 games this season and has collected one point (an assist) while registering 34 penalty minutes, which includes three fights.
He used to be a great player, but the amount of wear and tear on his body due to his intense style of play has caused him to decline faster and earlier than might otherwise be expected.
A team like the Philadelphia Flyers may look at the opportunity to bring in their former power forward to provide some leadership to the dressing room, but the hope is that other teams will just leave him alone and let him finish up his career where he wants to.
The Scarborough native has several Toronto Maple Leafs fans who believe he should be in the line-up almost every night due to him being one of the only players on the roster to bring a physicality to the game.
There is also a second group in the fanbase that believe, although he is physical, he lacks the skill level to be an NHLer.
Since this is his third time on waivers, I think it’s safe to say the latter group is correct.
Simmonds is in the final year of a two-year deal that brings a cap hit of $900,000 and although it is barely above the league minimum, it still takes up some valuable space if the club is looking to make an addition.
If Simmonds goes unclaimed, he will be waiver exempt through the trade deadline which is just over two weeks away. As per Chris Johnston, this means the club can move him up and down with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL to assist them maneuvering around the cap.
Next. Maple Leafs recall three from the Marlies. dark
Simmonds has yet to ever suit up for an AHL game in his career as he jumped straight from the Ontario Hockey League to the Los Angeles Kings as a 20-year old in 2008. While many think he brings valuable playoff experience to the team, he has actually only made it to the second round once in his career which was 11 years ago.
The 15-year veteran has played just 53 career playoff games and has not scored a playoff goal since 2014.