Simmonds could be one of the most attractive players available with the Flyers (19-23-6) 14 points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference at the break for the
2019 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend
. He's in the final season of a a six-year contract, signed Aug. 16, 2012, that has an average annual value of $3.97 million, and he can become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
"Wayne is a heart and soul kind of player," Giroux said during NHL All-Star Game Media Day presented by adidas on Thursday. "He brings it every night. You're not going to wonder what kind of Wayne Simmonds you're going to have. He's definitely not a fun player to play against either. He does a lot of good things for our team. He's one of our leaders."
Simmonds is second on the Flyers with 15 goals, and his four power-play goals are tied for first with forwards James van Riemsdyk and Sean Couturier.
Since being acquired by the Flyers in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings on June 23, 2011, Simmonds' 90 power-play goals are second in the NHL to Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin (141).
Philadelphia has been eligible to sign Simmonds to a new contract since July 1. But the Flyers fired general manager Ron Hextall on Nov. 26 and hired Chuck Fletcher to replace him Dec. 3. They also fired coach Dave Hakstol on Dec. 17 and replaced him with Scott Gordon.
"The situation that we're in right now, it's not a fun one," Giroux said. "You hope that it's going to work out [with Simmonds], but you don't really know what's going on. But there are a lot of good things I can say about Wayne."
