The Buffalo Sabres traded a conditional 2021 5th round pick to the New Jersey Devils for Wayne Simmonds on Monday ahead of the NHL’s annual trade deadline.
If Buffalo makes the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs and Simmonds plays in at least 10 games, then the 2021 5th round pick is upgraded to a 2021 4th round pick in the exchange.
Meanwhile, New Jersey retained 50% ($2.500 million) of Simmonds’ salary in the trade.
Simmonds, 31, is a pending-unrestricted free agent at season’s end and had 8-16–24 totals in 61 games with the Devils this season at the time of the trade.
A native of Scarborough, Ontario, the 6-foot-2, 185-pound right wing was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the second round (31st overall) of the 2007 NHL Draft and has amassed 251 goals and 247 assists (498 points) in 902 career NHL games for the Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Nashville Predators and Devils since entering the league in the 2008-09 season.
He scored 20 or more goals in six out of seven seasons from 2011-18 while in Philadelphia and reached the 60-point plateau twice in that span.
Meanwhile, New Jersey owns 16 picks in the next two NHL Entry Drafts, including three first round picks in 2020 and two third round picks in 2021.
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