Fantasy Impact: The Toronto Maple Leafs signed winger Wayne Simmonds to a one-year contract worth $1.5 million.

The Leafs get: a power forward on the tail-end of a productive fantasy hockey career. Although that tail-end has lasted for several years now. But from 2013 to 2016 there was no more coveted a power forward in fantasy leagues. Simmonds is a four-time 50-point, three-time 100-PIM and three-time 150-Hits player. He still dishes out the Hits – he was credited with 145 last season in just 68 games. And although Simmonds can still contribute a bit on a second power-play unit, his 35-point days are behind him.

Fantasy Players Impacted: Simmonds will flirt with 10 goals and 25 or 30 points. He'll get 70 or 80 PIM. And he'll rack up 150 to 180 Hits – maybe as much as 200 Hits if the hometown adrenaline kicks in. Overall, it's a good fit for Simmonds, though at this point his value is in only the deeper fantasy leagues with physical categories.

As you can see in the usage chart below, Simmonds was playing protected minutes. He saw the opponents’ depth lines more often than not, and his relative Corsi was ‘average’ under those conditions. Expect similar usage with Toronto. You can see the usage chart of any player via their player profile (click any linked name today to get that).

Early on, I suspect he will take some second-unit power-play time away from the likes of a Zach Hyman, Ilya Mikheyev or an Andreas Johnsson. The impact on their production would be minor, maybe three to six points by the end of the year. But it still hurts a little. This also puts the onus on youngsters Pierre Engvall and Russian energy guy Alexander Barabanov to earn their place.

Fantasy Players this helps, in order:

Wayne Simmonds

Fantasy Players this hurts, in order:

Alexander Barabanov

Pierre Engvall

Andreas Johnsson (minor impact)

Zach Hyman (minor impact)

Ilya Mikheyev (minor impact)