New Jersey Devils: 5 burning questions heading into the 2019-20 season
3. What Wayne Simmonds are the Devils getting?
Signing a deal with the Devil never sounds like a good idea. For Wayne Simmonds, this could be his only saving grace. After spending the last eight seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers and a short stint with the Nashville Predators, Simmonds signed a one year, $5 million prove-it deal with the Devils.
The question is, what Wayne Simmonds will the Devils get? Will they get the Rugged power forward that will get you 25-30 goals and make a life for the other teams best players miserable? Or are will they get the Wayne Simmonds of the last couple years that has gotten injured and has been a defensive liability?
The likelihood that Simmonds returns to his 30 goals and 55 points average is very low. When power forwards like him get to 31 years old, their health becomes a major issue. Simmonds used to be a player that made his mark in the league by hitting everything that moves and scoring ugly goals in the front of the net. Continuing that style of play breaks a players body down.
Related Story. 5 Devils To Watch Next Season. light
While he did play 79 games last season, he wasn’t very effective in his regular role. Simmonds only got 30 points split between the Flyers and Predators. With only three points in the 17 games with the Predators in the regular season, he went on to have no points in two postseason games before leaving the first round with an injury in Game 2. Suffice to say he did not have a great time with the Predators that lead other teams to maybe stay away.
Heading into the 2019/20 season Simmonds will be looking to get a fresh start of sorts on a team that will need him to score more than the 17 goals he put up last year. The Devils were one of the lowest clicking power-play teams in the league averaging a lowly 17.7 percent good for 11th worst in the NHL.
If Simmonds can cement himself in front of the net and clear bodies for point men like Subban and Will Butcher to get pucks through, he can easily get himself back to 50 points and possibly a long term deal with the club.