With James van Riemsdyk set to hit unrestricted free agency on the 1st of July, the veteran is set to sign his first contract with a team that isn’t the Philadelphia Flyers.
The former 2nd overall pick from the 2007 NHL Entry Draft signed his 3-year ELC in the summer of 2009 and then a 6-year deal worth $25 million in the summer of 2011. He was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs as the new contract kicked in and spent the entirety of his contract in Toronto before rejoining the Flyers in the summer of 2018, signing a 5-year deal worth $35 million.
The Chicago Blackhawks won the 2007 draft lottery despite finishing fifth-last during the regular season, which bumped the Flyers from the lofty first overall pedestal after they crashed and burned to a 30th-place finish. The NHL Central Scouting final rankings had Kyle Turris as the top North American skater with Patrick Kane 2nd and van Riemsdyk 3rd. Nevertheless, it was always expected that Kane was to go first overall. The Blackhawks lucked their way to the top spot and ironically drafted the player who ended up scoring the game-winning goal in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final to snap their lengthy drought after waiting since 1961 – while defeating van Riemsdyk and the Flyers.
In his draft year, van Riemsdyk scored 13 goals and 25 points in just 12 games for the U.S. National U18 Team in the NAHL and another 20 goals and 38 points in 30 games in the NTDP. He also participated in both the WJC-18 and WJC-20 where he potted 5 goals and 12 points in 7 games in the former and a goal in 7 games during the latter tournament.
He committed to the University of New Hampshire where he scored 11 goals and 34 points in 31 games during his first season, while adding 5 goals and 11 points in 6 games at the World Juniors. He then scored 17 goals and 40 points in 36 games the following year and once again made an appearance for Team USA at the World Juniors, this time scoring 6 goals and 10 points along the way. He also made his first professional appearance for the Philadelphia Phantoms that season, scoring 1 goal and 2 points.
He finally made his NHL debut in 2009-10, scoring 15 goals and 35 points in 78 regular season games, but only 3 goals and 6 points in 21 postseason games. He improved to the tune of 21 goals and 40 points in 75 games the following season and scored 7 postseason goals in 11 games before the Flyers were swept by the Boston Bruins in the second round. In his final season of his first tenure with the club, he battled injuries and only appeared in 43 games, but scored 11 goals and 24 points before adding a goal and an assist in 7 postseason games.
He was traded on the infamous June 23rd in the summer of 2012 to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a one-for-one deal that brought Luke Schenn over to Philadelphia. The Middletown, New Jersey native thrived almost immediately in Toronto, scoring 18 goals and 32 points in 48 games. He then finished the next season with his first 30-goal campaign, while also adding a career-high 31 assists for a 61-point 2013-14 in 80 games.
He would then score 27 goals and 56 points in 82 games in 2014-15, 14 goals and 29 points in 40 games in 2015-16, 29 goals and 62 points in 82 games in 2016-17, before rounding out his tenure in Toronto with 36 goals and 54 points in 81 games. For the “Buds”, he scored 154 goals and 294 points in 413 games across 6 seasons, compared to the 47 goals and 99 points he tallied in 196 games in his first 3 seasons with the Flyers.
Reportedly, Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek went to then-general manager Ron Hextall and pleaded that he sign the biggest fish on the free agent market in James van Riemsdyk. The often-penny-pinching Hextall obliged and signed him to a mega-deal on the first day of the free agent window to a 5-year deal with a $7 million dollar AAV. He was 29 years old, he was a veteran, had two 30-goal seasons under his belt, was coming off a career-high 36 goals in 2017-18, and eclipsed the 60-point barrier twice along the way.
Just 2 games back with the Flyers, van Riemsdyk took a puck to the leg during a game against the Colorado Avalanche and would end up missing the next 5 weeks – 16 games. He wound up struggling in his first 8 games back from injury with just 1 goal and 3 points. He bounced back with 12 goals and 19 points in his following 23 games and then finished the final 26 games of the season with 14 goals and 22 points. Overall, he scored 27 goals and 48 points in 66 games and finished 5th in points despite missing 16 games.
The following season with the Flyers riding high into the COVID-pause, van Riemsdyk had an okay season with 19 goals and 40 points in 66 games. The offense was a lot more balanced with Travis Konecny pacing things at 61 points, Sean Couturier with 59, followed by Jakub Voracek with 56, Claude Giroux with 53, and Kevin Hayes with 41. Unfortunately, van Riemsdyk went silent during the playoff bubble as he managed to score just 2 goals in 12 games.
2020-21 was just a strange season overall and although van Riemsdyk was tied atop of the Flyers leaderboard with 43 points, most of those came in the beginning of the season – way before the wheels completely feel off in March. From the 13th of January – with the season starting late due to COVID – to the 2nd of March, van Riemsdyk had 10 goals and 26 points in the first 19 games. He then went the next 34 games with just 6 goals and 13 points before finishing off the final 3 games of the season with 4 points.
Sean Couturier got injured 2 games into the season and wound up missing 3 weeks. He was stationed on a line with van Riemsdyk and Joel Farabee for the most of the beginning of the season. Until the 2nd of March, Sean Couturier had 12 points in 9 games and Joel Farabee had 19 points in 19 games. The lines ended up being shuffled around but Couturier ended the year with 13 goals and 29 points in his final 36 games from the 2nd of March to the 10th of May.
Things didn’t get any better for the Flyers in 2021-22 as Travis Konecny paced the club with 52 points in 79 games. Cam Atkinson finished 2nd with 50 points in 73 games, followed by the departed Claude Giroux with 42 points in 57 games, and then van Riemsdyk’s 38 in a full 82-game season. With Atkinson missing the final few weeks of the season, van Riemsdyk was able to eclipse his 23 goals with 24 of his own and the team-lead – on the final day of the season.
van Riemsdyk started the season with just 2 goals and 6 points in his first 24 games. He collected 5 goals and 7 points in the next 6 games before going the next 23 games with just 4 goals and 7 points. He picked things back up ever so slightly with 6 goals and 10 points in his following 13 games but hit another snag near the end of the season with 7 goals and 8 points in 16 games. It was not what the production that the Flyers were hoping for from a $7 million man.
I’m not entirely sure what had happened this season because even after breaking a finger early in the season, James van Riemsdyk potted 6 goals and 16 points in his first 19 games – which included 13 games post-return. Unfortunately, he was not able to keep up the pace or anything of the sort as he finished the final 41 games with 6 goals and 13 points, which included a skid of 26 games where he just scored 2 goals.
Chuck Fletcher did him absolutely no favours after what seemed like dragging the player’s name in the dirt ahead of the trade deadline. It was a foregone conclusion that the Flyers would part ways with the veteran, and when you looked around the league and seeing who was being dealt, it makes things that much more puzzling that Fletcher got nothing for van Riemsdyk.
He had 9 goals and 23 points in 41 games as they reached the deadline and even with the slump he was in, one would’ve expected at least a mid-round draft pick at the very least. However as Fletcher insisted, he received only 1 phone call for van Riemsdyk after pleading with other general managers and trying to vouch for his value.
The Flyers and Detroit Red Wings had a deal done with 10 minutes to spare but it was contingent on the Wings finding a trade partner for another one of their players. The deal fell through, the Flyers weren’t able to move their most “coveted” asset at the deadline – a deadline that provided sparks galore. Fletcher insisted that he let his counterparts know that he was willing to retain 50% of his salary, as if that was something that was previously off the table heading into the final day.
It was an uninspiring finish for the veteran as he slumped to the tune of 3 goals and 6 points in his final 20 games post-deadline and only averaged 13:58 TOI, didn’t even average 2 shots a game (37), and provided 0 power play points along the way. The frustration was ever present, and his postseason comments made that known as he was said to have been disappointed in not being able to chase a Stanley Cup.
No one can blame him as several comparable players were dealt to many contending teams for mid-round value. All the teams that were said to have carried interest, all made moves a week before the actual deadline. Fletcher was said to have been hoping to get a first round pick at one point, changed his mind to a second round pick, got nowhere and decided to change his price to a third round pick but it was too late as everyone stockpiled and didn’t need him anymore.
His first tenure: 196 games played, 47 goals, 52 assists, 99 points, +13, 9 power play goals, 14:03 ATOI
Maple Leafs: 413 games played, 154 goals, 140 assists, 294 points, -47, 45 power play goals, 17:54 ATOI
His second tenure: 331 games played, 99 goals, 99 assists, 198 points, -39, 33 power play goals, 15:54 ATOI
Final numbers as a Flyer: 527 games played, 146 goals, 151 assists, 297 points, -26, 42 power play goals, 15:13 ATOI
As for players from his draft class, van Riemsdyk currently ranks 7th in points behind Patrick Kane (1st overall), Jamie Benn (129th overall), Jakub Voracek (7th overall), David Perron (26th overall), Logan Couture (9th overall), and Max Pacioretty (22nd overall). His 300 goals have him in 5th place behind Kane, Benn, Pacioretty, and Couture.
The free agent class of 2023 is supposed to be very weak, so one can only assume what the going rate for van Riemsdyk will be. Is his value going to be rock-bottom as it was before Chuck Fletcher got fired? Or has it changed and were teams just pulling the chain on Fletcher as he put the Flyers’ reputation through the tube by the end of his tenure?
His charitable work cannot go unrecognized either as he was one of the spokesmen for the Flyers in relation to the LGBTQ+ community – alongside Scott Laughton, he also represented the Flyers during military nights and took the time to speak with several veterans and their families, and worked closely with Autism Speaks. van Riemsdyk also represented the Flyers as their club player representative for the NHL Players’ Association at one point.
On the ice and in the locker room, he was always seen as one of the vocal leaders and was always thought to be a fantastic teammate. Unfortunately, the goals and points were sometimes far and few between during some low seasons for the Flyers.
He has always been a serviceable top-9 forward and can provide any team with secondary scoring and had he not been attached to a $7 million contract, he wouldn’t have been as controversial of a player near the end of his second tenure.
In the right setting he can definitely hit the 20-goal mark with the chance of surpassing the 25-goal milestone. However those days are long gone in Philadelphia, and he is better served playing for a contending team that needs the depth, the veteran leadership, and a net-front presence on the power play.
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