Flyers Trade Wayne Simmonds to Predators

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

For most of the afternoon, there was no news. Finally, right as the deadline hit, the Flyers made their move.

The Flyers traded forward Wayne Simmonds to the Nashville Predators in exchange for forward Ryan Hartman and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2020. The pick becomes a third-round pick if Nashville wins a playoff series this season.

Speculation was that Simmonds had played his final game with the Flyers on Saturday in the Stadium Series. In 584 games with the Flyers, Simmonds scored 203 goals and added 175 assists for 378 points.

In his final game with the Flyers, Simmonds’ passion, energy and leadership were on full display. Over the years, Simmonds embodied what it means to be a member of the Flyers, always honest in assessment, always willing to be a voice for the team.

Simmonds is also going to a team that desperately needs power play help and was looking to add size and energy. It also reunites him with former Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette.

Hartman, 24, has struggled in his two seasons in Nashville, scoring just 13 goals and 26 points in 85 games with the Predators. With Chicago, he had 19 goals and 31 points in 76 games in 2016-17 and was off to a strong start in the 2017-18 season with eight goals and 25 points in 57 games.

In 64 games this season with the Predators, Hartman had 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points.

There were no other moves made at the deadline by the Flyers.