The Washington Capitals announced on Tuesday that they had signed 27 year-old right winger Wayne Simpson to a one-year, two-way contract that pays the Massachusetts native $140,000 if he plays the season in the AHL with the Hershey Bears, and the NHL league minimum $650,000 if he gets called up to play with the Capitals.
Washington, weak on the offensive wings with the departures of Justin Williams, Marcus Johansson, and Daniel Winnik, is looking to shore up the right side of its forward corps with the signings of Simpson and Devante Smith-Pelly.
Wayne Simpson - not to be confused with perennial Philadelphia Flyers stud Wayne Simmonds, nor beloved American sitcom buffoon Homer Simpson - is a bit undersized as these things tend to go, standing just 5’10” and tipping the scales at a meaty-but-not-monolithic 194 lbs.