A new NHL chapter for the 30-year-old forward will begin when he makes his Predators debut against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, FS-TN, NHL.TV) and is reunited with coach Peter Laviolette, who coached Simmonds in Philadelphia from the 2011-12 season until he was fired three games into 2013-14.
For player and coach, the hope is familiarity will breed success for the Predators (37-23-5), who enter the game first in the Central Division, one point ahead of the Winnipeg Jets.
"Laviolette] was awesome," Simmonds
[told the Predators website
Tuesday. "He's definitely one of the best coaches I've had. He's very tenacious the way his teams play. I've always admired playing against Nashville and their systems, how aggressive the team was. I think I'm going to fit in perfectly and it's nice to be here for sure.
"My game is a little more complete than what it was when I was originally with [Laviolette]. I'm just going to try and do my thing, and hopefully that adds to this team."
Acquired by the Flyers in a trade from the Los Angeles Kings on June 23, 2011, Simmonds scored at least 24 goals in six of his eight seasons with Philadelphia, including an NHL career-high 32 in 2015-16. He's in the final season of a six-year extension he signed Aug. 16, 2012, and can become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
"He's a physical player, but I don't think he's one of those players that recklessly hits people out there," Laviolette said. "What he does do, is he's courageous. He'll go to the front of the net, and he'll take a 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4 defensemen and battle for space and positioning. I think where you'll really feel him is just his size at the net. He brings some different elements. We bring a little bit of physicality back to the lineup."
Simmonds projects to skate on the second line with left wing Calle Jarnkrok and center Kyle Turris.
In addition to Simmonds, Nashville acquired center Mikael Granlund from the Minnesota Wild prior to the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline, part of a shake-up the Predators hope propels them to greater heights after the 2017-18 Presidents' Trophy winners lost Game 7 of the Western Conference Second Round to the Jets on home ice.
"It's the stretch drive here," Simmonds said. "We're fighting for first place in the division and every game from here on out is extremely important. I'm definitely honored to be here and I'm going to give it everything I have."
