Another early elimination from the NHL playoffs and another offseason of people saying the Toronto Maple Leafs need to add some grit. This year, the stars might be aligning for the team to add a hometown boy on a discount contract who could bring some grit and has a history of putting the puck in the net. Power forward Wayne Simmonds will be UFA and it's more than likely he'll have to take a discount deal somewhere. NHL insider Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic spoke to Simmonds about the possibility of signing in Toronto and the gritty forward said he's interested. «I moved up to Aurora (north of Toronto) probably three summers ago, my wife and I and our daughter,'' Simmonds said. «I've been walking around the neighbourhood way more frequently than I usually do because I've been here a lot longer than normal and all I keep hearing is, `When are you going to sign with the Leafs?'«So of course it's crossed my mind. I know they're in a bit of a salary cap situation and things of that nature, but you know I'm open to everything, Toronto's got a great core of players and I think that's definitely a team where I could go in and make an impact right away. It's up to the teams. Whoever wants to choose me, I'll be waiting. I'll definitely be ready to go.''He knows he'll likely have to take a discount deal and will make any team happy for taking a chance on him. «Whoever is willing to take a shot at me, I can undoubtedly say that they're going to get a lot more than what they're going to pay for,'' Simmonds said. «I can guarantee you that.'' What do you think of Simmonds' comments?
