Following one of the worst seasons in Flyers history, James van Riemsdyk was drafted second overall by Philadelphia in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft—a Patrick Kane consolation prize—and spent three years with the team before he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2012 offseason. Van Riemsdyk played his peak years with Toronto, scoring at a 30-goal or near 30-goal pace for most of the next six seasons before returning to Philadelphia at age 29.
JVR’s return to the city that drafted him was one of the first moves by former GM Ron Hextall that signaled he was changing gears from rebuilding to building. And it was a solid move as the winger stayed productive with small regressions over each of the five seasons of that $35 million contract. By the end of it, as is expected with many 30+ long-term contracts, the Flyers were overpaying for what van Riemsdyk was contributing on the ice.
Van Riemsdyk was first a popular fan choice to leave in the Seattle expansion draft and then was often mentioned as a trade target last offseason. When neither of those happened, he was again assumed to be moved at the deadline this season, a non-move which felt like it was one of the final straws for Chuck Fletcher.
The Central Jersey-born winger has always been an easy target for fan ire: he’s a big guy who doesn’t play a very physical game; he scores goals but not the flashy kind; he got paid big bucks while playing a middle- and sometimes bottom-six role. Some of that is fair criticism, but van Riemsdyk has never really gotten the credit he deserves. He’s a power play weapon and a strong netfront presence. He has consistently been near the top of the roster in even strength CF% relative to his teammates, including a team-leading 6.2% this season.
Van Riemsdyk finished the season with 29 points in 61 games—again, not worth $7 million, but not terrible for a 33-year-old on one of the worst offensive teams in the league.
It seems likely, now that Daniel Briere is at the helm of the Flyers and the franchise is staring down the barrel of another rebuild, that this “not terrible” season will be van Riemsdyk’s final in the orange and the black. If it’s the end of the road for him here, then this is also kind of a career retrospective as well. The Flyers were never really great over the course of JVR’s second stint here, though they did make the cup finals in his rookie season.
What remains unsaid is the James van Riemsdyk that exists off the ice. JVR has been very active in the NHL’s You Can Play initiative. He has been very vocal in his support of traditionally marginalized communities in hockey, especially the LGBTQ+ community. He has been a strong advocate for Autism Speaks and done charity work in service of cystic fibrosis awareness, Hurricane Sandy relief, and military charities. He has served as a You Can Play ambassador, as a union representative, and on the Return to Play committee following the pandemic-affected 2020 NHL season. He is clearly someone who has not taken his position in life for granted and has tried to give back at every turn, is a leader in his community, and is unafraid to do what he thinks is right.
For this, JVR deserves our respect and our gratitude, even if we’re all ready to move on from his tenure as a Flyer in pursuit of a younger roster and a successful rebuild.
Three Questions
Did they live up to expectations?
Yeah, probably. I mean, the biggest expectation for JVR this season was that he’d be traded away from the Flyers—something out of his control that did not happen. In terms of his play, I’d say that’s a “yes.” Van Riemsdyk scored points at a higher rate than he did last year, with .48 per game and 1.9 per 60 minutes (compared to .46 and 1.7 in 2021-22, respectively). We expected his play to be around what he was last year; he was just marginally better but in less games.
What can we expect from next season?
In all likelihood, the same quiet though declining production in a bottom six role—albeit for a reduced price and in a different uniform. With the Flyers franchise in the position that it’s in, there’s not a lot of room for someone like van Riemsdyk moving forward. Hopefully, he’ll get picked up by an up-and-coming team with some cap space to spare for closer to his true value and get a few more shots at the playoffs before he has to hang them up. Maybe he signs for one to three years at less than $4 million with a Detroit, an Ottawa, an LA and serves as a veteran leader presence while putting up strong third-line numbers and playing bottom six minutes.
How do we grade their 2022-23 season?
Just this season in a vacuum, van Riemsdyk’s grade would probably be lower. But all things considered like his age, his stand-up behavior, and mixing in that this is a little bit of a career grade for a guy who’s spent eight seasons and over 500 games in Philadelphia, his letter grade gets a little bit of a boost.
B+
