Flyers will rely on veteran Wayne Simmonds as offensive leader

Wayne Simmonds will take on a larger leadership role with the Flyers. Credit: Getty Images

With Scotty Hartnell no longer with the Flyers and Kimmo Timonen out indefinitely, the orange and black are in need of an alternate captain.

After a preseason win in the home finale Tuesday, Flyers head coach Craig Berube made an argument for Wayne Simmonds as a front-runner for the role.

“I think growing as a leader,” the coach said, “Simmer has always been an emotional leader for our hockey team. He has led by example, however, now I think he needs to take it to another level of leading by example, by leading by example on the ice. I think this will help him develop into a better player than he already is.”

Simmonds was the NHL’s leading scorer among players with more than 100 penalty minutes. His aggressiveness and physical play can help spark the Flyers forward. But it’s also costing the team a man on the ice at times.

“You learn different things the more you play,” Simmonds said. “I’m going on my seventh year in the league and every single year I try to learn new things whether it’s watching guys on our team or watching guys on other teams. You can always pick up something, and you always have another level to go to.”