Forward Wayne Simmonds announced his retirement from the NHL on Monday. Simmonds will sign a one-day contract with the Philadelphia Flyers so he can retire as a member of the franchise with which he played for eight seasons.
Simmonds hasn’t signed with the team in 2023-24 and said back in January that he won’t be playing professional hockey again. He will ink his one-day contract with the Flyers on April 13 and will receive a ceremony in his honor at the halftime of the game against the New Jersey Devils.
“It’s hard to describe my emotions on a day like this, but one of my very first thoughts as I look back is my life in Philadelphia and playing for the Flyers,” Simmonds said via ESPN. “Taking the ice in a Flyers sweater is a special feeling, and it’s one that I’m truly proud of. The history of this franchise and standard of being a Flyer that was set is unique and one that I hold in the highest regard.”
Wayne Simmonds made his NHL debut with the Los Angeles Kings in 2008–09. After three years with the franchise, he was traded to the Flyers. As a member of the Flyers, Simmonds played 584 games in the NHL while scoring 203 goals and dishing 175 assists for a total of 378 points. He received his first and only All-Star nod in 2017 while playing in Philadelphia.
The Flyers traded Simmonds to the Nashville Predators midway through the 2018-19 campaign. He later went on to suit up for the New Jersey Devils, Buffalo Sabres, and Toronto Maple Leafs. Simmonds will finish his NHL career with 526 points in 1,037 games.
