Friedman: Leafs working to extend Wayne Simmonds

As per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Toronto Maple Leafs are looking to extend forward Wayne Simmonds.

31 Thoughts will be coming soon, but one bit of news. Nothing finalized, but word is TOR is working on an extension with Wayne Simmonds. Sounds positive.

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 28, 2021

Simmonds signed with Toronto last offseason for one year at $1,500,000. The power forward, who will turn 33 in August, put up seven goals and two assists for a total nine points in 38 games. A broken wrist in February seemed to derail Wayne just when he was getting into a groove. While he remained a hard-working, gritty depth player to the end, his declining speed and lack of passing limited his contributions on the ice, and the Leafs’ collapse against Montreal has overshadowed his contributions to the team culture.

There are plenty of excellent reasons to like Simmonds, who seems to be a terrific guy, who hails from Scarborough, and who has pushed for progress in the NHL as a member of the Hockey Diversity Alliance. Let’s hope for a strong showing in the bottom six and a better ending to next season for both the Leafs and Wayne.

We will likely see signings announced after the expansion draft. Perhaps, Wayne Simmonds fits into this scenario. Verbal agreements not made official or registered until after July 21. Some player risk, but helps the clubs doing this with protection strategy.

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) June 28, 2021

So much for that: it’s official and two years at $900,000 AAV.