Pierre LeBrun says Wayne Simmonds likely to land with one of two Canadian teams
Unrestricted free agent Wayne Simmonds isn't the impact player he once was, but he can still fill a great depth role for a team. As such, it's expected he'll have no lack of offers from teams once free agency opens on October 9th. According to TSN's Pierre LeBrun, there are two Canadian clubs that are likely suitors for Simmonds' services.
"Hearing that the Maple Leafs have genuine interest in pending UFA winger Wayne Simmonds at the right price," said LeBrun. "They have him listed as a target once free agency opens Friday. Again, would need to be a reasonable contract for it to work. But Leafs have sincere interest there."
LeBrun added signing Simmonds would fit into the recent narrative of Toronto GM Kyle Dubas, who said he intends to make the team much tougher to play against before the 2020-21 season starts.
As for the other possible team, LeBrun names the Montreal Canadiens.
"Montreal showed interest in Simmonds last July but wasn't ready to pay what New Jersey did ($5M aav)," said LeBrun. "It wouldn't surprise me if Habs circled back on Simmonds again at least to see. (bottom six role?). Simmonds told me last month it's the best he's felt physically in 2 years."
Simmonds split last season between New Jersey and Buffalo, playing 61 games with the Devils (8 goals, 16 assist) and seven with the Sabres (0 goals, 1 assist) before the NHL suspended play. The 32-year-old is known for his hard-nosed style on the ice.
According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Fiedman, Buffalo has given Simmonds permission to talk to teams before free agency officially begins.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Nathan MacKinnon | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Martin Necas | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Conor Garland | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Filip Chytil | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Cale Makar | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mason Appleton | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Thomas Chabot | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Warren Foegele | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nils Hoglander | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jack Hughes | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Adrian Kempe | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Artturi Lehkonen | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Casey Mittelstadt | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Logan O'Connor | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cole Perfetti | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Quinton Byfield | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ross Colton | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Dylan DeMelo | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 59 | 42 | 14 | 3 | 87 | |
Capitals | 58 | 38 | 12 | 8 | 84 | |
Stars | 58 | 37 | 19 | 2 | 76 | |
Maple Leafs | 58 | 36 | 20 | 2 | 74 | |
Golden Knights | 58 | 34 | 18 | 6 | 74 | |
Panthers | 59 | 35 | 21 | 3 | 73 | |
Oilers | 58 | 34 | 20 | 4 | 72 | |
Wild | 58 | 34 | 20 | 4 | 72 | |
Kings | 56 | 31 | 17 | 8 | 70 | |
Lightning | 57 | 33 | 20 | 4 | 70 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||