Wayne Simmonds seems open to Philadelphia Flyers reunion in offseason

Despite the recent trade to the Nashville Predators, could Wayne Simmonds return to the Philadelphia Flyers in the offseason?

Leading up to Monday’s trade deadline, there was plenty of speculation surrounding Wayne Simmonds, and how the Philadelphia Flyers would most likely be sending the star forward to a team looking to make a playoff push, which turned out to be exactly the case.

Without question, the Nashville Predators, who currently hold the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, are getting an amazing athlete in Simmonds, and it will be interesting to see what kind of impact he makes during this final stretch of the 2018-19 season.

Then again, with the Flyers currently listed as a long shot to earn a playoff spot of their own in the Eastern Conference, some question the decision by the team to move on from Simmonds instead of keeping him around, but that’s a different story for another day.

For now, all that matters is Philadelphia completed the deal with Simmonds before the deadline as expected while getting a draft pick and Ryan Hartman in return instead of having to worry about losing him in the offseason as a free agent without anything.

Speaking of the free agency period in the offseason, despite the fact that it’s been less than 48 hours since Simmonds was dealt to Nashville, there’s already been some speculation over the possibility of returning to Philadelphia once he does in fact become a free agent this summer.

Before jumping to a quick reaction over how ridiculous this sounds, take a look at what Sam Carchidi had to say about the possibility:

Philadelphia knew all along that dealing Simmonds would be one of the toughest decisions by the organization after looking at how much he’s been appreciated by teammates and fans over the last eight years.

But if what Carchidi said has even the slightest chance of happening, this would certainly make the Flyers and their fans feel a whole lot better over the tough decision that took place this week in sending him to the Predators.

Of course, money will certainly be a huge factor over whether this has a chance of happening since part of Philadelphia’s decision in the first place to deal Simmonds was due to his contract, which was viewed as a steal, was in the final year, and he could be expensive to keep beyond 2019.

Even if this doesn’t happen in the offseason, at least Simmonds will always feel appreciated in the City of Brotherly Love, no matter which team he happens to be playing for.