Option 1: Adding a rental
Wayne Simmonds is the Flyers’ one big trade chip, in the same way that Micheal Ferland is the big-ticket item for Carolina Hurricanes this trade deadline. Like Ferland, Simmonds is an impending UFA – but he comes in with a higher AAV, and has a modified No-Trade Clause that precludes 12 teams from acquiring his services. For the sake of this proposal, we would assume that there are more than 12 teams below the Canes in Simmonds’ estimation (which is actually quite likely).
Now, why acquire a rental? The answer is simple: Wayne Simmonds brings everything you want in a player. Size, talent, effort, leadership, he has all of the tools to be a huge presence on this Carolina Hurricanes team. A veteran of more than 800 NHL games, Simmonds is just nine goals shy of a quarter-century of career goals, and just 33 points away from 500. He fights, he hustles, and plays a 200-foot game.
To acquire Simmonds will, like Ferland, likely take a 1st round pick. Warren Foegele is the kind of player that would thrive in the Flyers’ middle six, having some of Simmonds’ tenacity and love of going to the net, and so sending Foegele and a 2019 2nd round pick would quite possibly land us the services of a guy who would put everything on the line to help the Carolina Hurricanes secure a first playoff berth in ten years.
Likelihood: 3/5