On March 18, 2024, former NHL right-winger Wayne Simmonds announced his retirement. He will sign a one-day contract with the Philadelphia Flyers, where he spent most of his career. He’ll be honored by the team in their penultimate home game of the 2023-24 regular season on April 13.
Related: The Wayne Simmonds Story: From Scarborough to the NHL
Simmonds played for six different teams in 15 seasons in the NHL. He reached the 1,000 games milestone, was a consistent 20-goal scorer, was one of the premiere fighters in the league, and loved giving back to his community.
Wayne Simmonds’ Career
Simmonds, a Scarborough, Ontario native, spent his early years in the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings. Drafted in the second round of the 2007 NHL Draft, he had potential but his long-term impact was not immediately apparent. He made a name for himself with the Kings, scoring 23 and 40 points, respectively, in his first two seasons in 2008-09 and 2009-10 and finishing with a few Selke Trophy votes in 2009-10.
Simmonds’ scoring output and ice time regressed in 2010-11, and he soon became expendable. Though he was a solid, gritty player, the Flyers gave the Kings a trade offer they couldn’t resist: Mike Richards. Richards was traded to the Kings for Simmonds, Brayden Schenn, and a draft pick. The Flyers, looking to get younger and grittier, went for one of the more interesting young power forwards in the game. He did not disappoint.
Almost instantly, Simmonds became a fan-favorite in Philadelphia. He perfectly encapsulated what it meant to be a Flyer. He loved to hit, compiling 1,108, and quickly became one of the best goal scorers on the team, and, of course, he loved to fight. At 6-foot-2 and around 180 pounds, was typically at a disadvantage, but that didn’t stop him from winning them. He had the guts to take on the best enforcers in the NHL while being among the leaders in goals for his team almost every season.
Simmonds loved sitting in front of the net to score, cleaning up the garbage in front when necessary. Scoring on the power play might have been one of his biggest strengths, as he scored 60 goals there in just eight seasons in Philadelphia. The man advantage was a big reason why he reached the 203-goal mark in 584 contests with the Flyers.
In 2018-19, his last season with the Flyers, he won the Mark Messier Leadership Trophy for his impact on the community around him. On top of being an excellent hockey player, he was one of the league’s best at giving back.
Simmonds played his last hockey with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2022-23, making pit stops with the Nashville Predators, New Jersey Devils, and Buffalo Sabres with just 85 regular season contests between those three. In the end, he was knotted up with goals and assists at 263 apiece, combining for 526 points in 1,037 career games. His 1,313 penalty minutes are a staggering mark for a skilled player in the modern era, too.
With Simmonds being honored by the Flyers, he cements himself as one of the genuine greats of the franchise. He might not be up there with Bobby Clarke, but his time in Philadelphia was important to their history. Simmonds will go down as a great top-six forward, who had the nastiness and work ethic to reach his potential in the NHL.
