Simmonds Says He Would Have Came Back To Philly, But Fletcher Had No Interest.

It was a tough break up last season for Philadelphia Flyers' fans. New general manager Chuck Fletcher shipped out fan favourite Wayne Simmonds at the NHL trade deadline. With Simmonds a pending unrestricted free agent and Fletcher looking to remake the team in his vision, the writing was on the wall. Things didn't work out in Nashville too much with just three points in 17 games and no points in two playoffs games. Fans would have loved to see the Flyers bring him back during the offseason and so did Simmonds, but he ended up signing a one year deal with the New Jersey Devils. "In a perfect world maybe it could have worked, but for what my goal is and where I'm trying to get to, I think it was a bad fit to be quite honest," Simmonds told the Courier Post. "With all the pieces they have there in place, there's a reason why I did get traded. Obviously I wasn't a piece they needed anymore. I think I had to look at that and just keep it moving. It's a business. Keep it moving and do what's best for yourself. I did that."
Simmonds had quite the exit with the Flyers as they played the rival Penguins during the Stadium Series and Simmonds put together quite a game. "Yeah I kinda figured that would be my last game," Simmonds said. "I think it was a good one to go out on, mess up the Penguins a little bit. That was pretty fun. We got a win there and it was nice to get all the respect of the guys and stuff like that. We knew for a while there that we were gonna get a little bit of a shake-up and guys didn't know who would be moved and what would go on, but I was pretty positive I was getting moved. It wasn't something that came by shock. I think everyone kind of knew."
As he mentioned previously, Simmonds wants some boos from the Philly crowd. "Give me a couple boos," Simmonds pleaded. "It's only right, especially in Philadelphia. The fan base is just so passionate. To me, it would kind of be an honor to be booed. It's crazy to say."