A pretty wild rumor surfaced throughout the day on Wednesday: that Wayne Simmonds has been traded to the Montreal Canadiens, and the only reason it hasn’t been announced yet is because of the NHL’s holiday roster freeze.
As the rumor would have you believe, Simmonds is leaving town and it’ll be announced on the 28th when the freeze is lifted.
Buuuuuuut it’s probably bullshit. Here’s the original source of the rumor:
@GagnonFrancois @YTSW Entendu sur la galerie de la presse a Calgary par un recruteur. Wayne Simmonds a Montreal. Avorter: Gel des echanges
— Marc-Eric bouchard (@MEBBouchard) December 23, 2015
For those of you who don’t speak French, that’s Calgary-based CBC Radio reporter Marc-Eric Bouchard saying that he overheard a scout on press row in Calgary say that Simmonds is headed to Montreal.
As for a return in this rumored trade, there was no word from Bouchard. But many on Twitter have mentioned that it would bring the Flyers defenseman Nathan Beaulieu and center Sven Andrighetto. That piece of the puzzle seems to have originated back on December 6, when known rumor-mongers at the Let’s Go Flyers blog mentioned that “a Montreal-based blog” claimed that “a package of Nathan Beaulieu and Sven Andrighetto could get a deal done.”
So … I mean, that’s it. In terms of the merits of the players involved, I could maybe see the Flyers being interested in Beaulieu. He’s young and a solid skating defensemen with top-pair upside. But as we pointed out in a story just today, the Flyers have trouble with scoring depth, of which Simmonds is an important part, and there are plenty of young defensemen in the organization.
It’s also worth noting that the Habs prooooobably don’t want to trade Beaulieu. Oh, and Simmonds has one of the few contracts on the Flyers roster that you could call an excellent value. The Flyers would almost surely demand more.
Beyond that, even rumors that could theoretically make sense (not that this one does) have to be looked at in terms of who is doing the reporting. A radio reporter from Western Canada overhearing something in the press box breaking a story like this? And a blog with no actual sourcing breaking the return? I mean, nah.
The Flyers could very well make a move here shortly after the holiday roster freeze, and hey, maybe it could even involve Simmonds or the Habs. But I’d doubt that this rumor has significant legs.
