( Above Photo Credit:  circlingthewagon .com )

By: Mark Allred                                     Follow Me On Twitter @BlackAndGold277

Per Providence Journal’s Bruins Beat writer Mark Divver and National Hockey League’s Washington Capitals organization, former Providence Bruins forward Wayne Simpson is heading to the Nations Capital as he’s agreed to a one-year two-way contract with the Caps.

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Born in Boxboro, Massachusetts the 27-year-old Simpson played four years at Union College (2009-10 to 2012-12) and had decent numbers posting 115 points in 159 games. After graduating, he moved to the East Coast Hockey League where he’d start his professional career with the South Carolina Stingrays who at one time were an “AA” minor league affiliate of the Boston Bruins. Providence got the best look at him as the Stingrays loaned him to the Baby B’s during the 2014-15 season and kept tabs on him ultimately signing him as a free agent after a one-year deal with the Portland Pirates in 2015-16.

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Last season with the Baby B’s, I thought Simpson was a good fit with many Bruins prospects and showed tremendous leadership as an older player in only one-year with the B’s. In 76 games with Providence, the undrafted right winger posted 16-33-49 numbers during the 2016-17 regular season and added 14 points in 17 games in the Calder Cup Playoffs that the AHL Bruins team went to the Eastern Conference Finals losing the series to the Syracuse Crunch in the best of seven series 4-1.

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The Washington Capitals are getting a quality depth player in Simpson that can play in many situations and is an effective forechecker and a specialist either on the first or second power play units.  He’s quick on his feet for a player listed at 5′-11″ 194-pounds and has a knack for getting under the skin of opposing players trying to transition out of their own zone. With a wave of talent eligible for the AHL this upcoming season, it seems logical that the Providence organization walked away from retaining him for another year even tho he earned his contract last fall with the Baby B’s coming off a professional tryout deal.

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