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Analyzing Reported JVR Return, Development Camp Sunday Schedule |
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REPORT: JVR TO RETURN TO PHILADELPHIA
It has been widely rumored since the start of the pre-July 1 talking period for unrestricted free agents that the Philadelphia Flyers were among the teams bidding on UFA left winger James van Riemsdyk. They had plenty of competition, however, with as many as 11 or 12 teams having various degrees of interest. It was going to take a big-money, long-term contract to win the bidding on the 29-year-old in order to lure the New Jersey native back where he started his NHL career.
According to TSN in a report issued late on Saturday night, the Flyers got their man. The Flyers are expected on Sunday to sign van Riemsdyk to a five-year deal carrying a $7 million cap hit. The deal would take van Riemsdyk until he is 34 years old, still making him eligible for an under-35 contract when he hits free agency again.
While nothing can truly be deemed a "done deal" until a contract is officially signed at noon on Sunday, it is unlikely that TSN would be too hasty in such a report. The news likely came to them via JVR himself or via his longtime agent, Alec Schall.
Selected by the Flyers with the second overall pick of the 2007 NHL Draft, van Riemsdyk spent the first three seasons of his NHL career with the Flyers before he was traded during the 2012 offseason to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a one-for-one trade for defenseman Luke Schenn. The deal worked heavily in Toronto's favor. Apart from solid play during the lockout shortened 2012-13 season, Schenn struggled for much of his career in Philadelphia while JVR became a mainstay in Toronto.
Twice, van Riemsdyk reached the 30-goal mark as a member of the Maple Leafs, and reached a single-season best 61 points in 2013-14. This past season, he bagged a career-high 36 goals in 81 regular season games and added three goals in Toronto's seven playoff games before the team was eliminated by the Boston Bruins. Overall, JVR has scored 20-plus goals five times in his NHL career, including during his 2nd NHL season in Philly, and scored 27-plus goals four times (all with Toronto).
Although big (6-foot-3, 217 pounds) and strong with a natural scoring touch, JVR has never really put his game all together to become a complete player on a consistent basis. The scouting report on him really hasn't changed all that much since his early years in Philly.
Van Riemsdyk is so-so defensively and better on the power play than at 5-on-5 despite posting good puck-possession analytics at even strength. His physical game is sporadic. Only sometimes does he put his size to full use. His goal scoring, while it comes in bunches when he gets on a roll, is prone to droughts. There are nights where JVR is not sufficiently involved in the play to be a difference-maker if he's not scoring.
When he's fully engaged, however, JVR has had spells of dominance dating back even to his early days with the Flyers.
Most notably, JVR had one of the most dominating one-night playoff performances of any Flyer of the 2010s. During Game 2 of the 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals against Boston, JVR put forth a performance that was reminiscent of a healthy Eric Lindros: he was impossible to take off the puck, displaying a dazzling combination of finesse and brute force, and he was unusually physical in toppling several Bruins with a mere dip of his shoulder.
Such nights have never became van Riemsdyk's norm, but he has become an above-average NHL scorer over the years. Sometimes it is easy to focus on the weaknesses rather than the strengths. The Flyers entered this offseason looking for a big left winger with goal-scoring ability and JVR is just that. He can also play center in a pinch (he's been experimented with in the middle in the past) but that is unlikely at this point of his career except in emergency.
Off the ice, JVR is a solid citizen. He's affable, generally laid back, and gets along well with teammates and the media.
The reported impending return of van Riemsdyk has deeper implications than just what he can bring to the team. Among these issues:
* While the Flyers will likely insist that bringing back left winger van Riemsdyk has nothing to do with the future of right winger Wayne Simmonds, do the Flyers want to commit long-term contracts to two power wingers approaching their 30s?
* If Simmonds is traded this offseason or prior to the 2019 trade deadline, the generally laid-back JVR is not really a candidate to assume a similar role in the locker room. Who fills it, in that case?
* JVR will almost certainly be installed on the Flyers' first power play unit, but where? He scores many of his goals at the side of the net. Does he bump Sean Couturier out of the behind-the-net boardwork/ left to middle slot-shooting role? Does he go to his off-wing for power plays and, if so, is the set up changed relative to where Jakub Voracek has played on the right side? Despite his size and hands, JVR is not a traditional physical presence down low in the same sense as Simmonds, but he could be used in the net-front spot occupied by Simmonds (or, late in the season, by Nolan Patrick) to cash in on cross-ice feeds from Giroux and/or Voracek and score on loose pucks. If that's the case, though, are both Patrick and Simmonds (if not traded) then relegated to PP2?
* JVR's arrival likely means that he will play on Patrick's left wing at least to start the season, assuming that the tandem of Claude Giroux and Couturier stay together. Does this move Oskar Lindblom down to the LW3 role to start? If so, does Michael Raffl, who can play either wing, play RW3 or go back to the fourth line? Does Taylor Leier, who got buried deep in head coach Dave Hakstol's doghouse last season and barely played in the second half of the season, have any future in Philadelphia? What about Jordan Weal?
* Will there be any other free agent signings made by Philly; specifically ones geared toward bolstering the penalty kill and replacing the likely departing Valtteri Filppula in the 3C role? This question will be answered soon enough.
The Flyers are still believed to be looking this offseason for a third-line center who can kill penalties and play a sound two-way game, and perhaps could be in the market for a top-four caliber defensemen. However, the JVR contract takes a big bite out of their offseason budget.
It was widely rumored in recent days that, if the Flyers were unsuccessful in their pursuit of a scoring winger (with JVR being the top target on the market), they would make a heavy push for Paul Stastny to form a 1-2-3 punch down the middle with Couturier and Patrick. However, it is believed that the Winnipeg Jets cleared space space on Saturday via trading veteran goalie Steve Mason to Montreal (who subsequently bought him out) specifically in order to be able to re-sign Stastny.
* Long-term, whether JVR was signed or not, the Flyers were not going to rush prospect Isaac Ratcliffe to the NHL. Ratcliffe is still at least one more junior year and quite possibly an AHL year away from being ready for the NHL, as the 6-foot-6 left winger refines his game. However, could a situation arise within a few years where JVR in his 30s is blocking Ratcliffe in what could be similar long-term NHL role?
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DEVELOPMENT CAMP: SUNDAY SCHEDULE
Sunday's schedule at Flyers Development Camp is a bit different than previous days. For the first time, goalies and skaters will all be on the ice together, divided into Group A and B.
GROUP A: 9:15 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
(G) Kirill Ustimenko
(G) Ivan Fedotov
(G) Samuel Ersson
(D) Philippe Myers
(D) Wyatte Wylie
(D) David Drake
(D) Linus Högberg
(D) Adam Ginning
(F) Mikhail Vorobyev
(F) Gavin Hain
(F) Jay O'Brien
(F) Maksim Sushko
(F) Ollie Lycksell
(F) Pascal Laberge
(F) Matthew Strome
GROUP B: 10:45-12:00
(G) Carter Hart
(G) Felix Sandström
(G) Matej Tomek
(D) Mark Friedman
(D) Jack St. Ivany
(D) James De Haas
(D) Wyatt Kalynuk
(D) David Bernhardt
(F) Morgan Frost
(F) Joel Farabee
(F) German Rubtsov
(F) Isaac Ratcliffe
(F) Marcus Westfält
(F) Noah Cates
(F) Carsen Twarynski
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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