Are you a general manager of a team in the National Hockey League that is looking to improve your team? Were you involved in the sweepstakes for Timo Meier but the stupid New Jersey Devils swiped him up before you could even make a real offer? Well, buddy, we have something even better for you.
No one needs some annoying Swiss winger that can score plenty of goals for you and be a cornerstone of your franchise for years to come, when you can acquire Philadelphia Flyers winger (and stud) James van Riemsdyk.
He is simply the better option and we are here to prove that you were right to not trade for Meier but instead pay that exact same price to get van Riemsdyk.
He’s taller
Do you know how tall Meier is? He could basically be a Napoleon impersonator at a miniscule 6-foot-1. But James van Riemsdyk on the other hand is a presence on the ice. He stands taller than most out there and can use his length and reach to get the pucks from every little crevice, no matter how skilled the defender is at protecting the little disc. He’s 6-foot-3!
He brings more experience
Why even bother acquiring Meier for a playoff run or two when he has been there just three times? Van Riemsdyk has been in the postseason a total of seven times and has played 71 playoff games, more than double what Meier has in his career. Seems pretty pointless to bring in a dude that has hardly been involved in that style of hockey, doesn’t it?
There’s less commitment
With Meier, the Devils now have to commit to a future with him as part of the team and potentially pay him so many millions of dollars to hang around in Newark. If you trade for van Riemsdyk, you don’t even have to think about him past June 30. No strings attached, no constraint to your cap on your summer spending — spend all that money, my dude! — and he can just go play for another team after you win the Stanley Cup.
He was drafted higher
We all know where a player was drafted tells a lot about the player’s ability to perform on the ice. Connor McDavid? First-overall pick. Auston Matthews? First-overall pick. Nathan MacKinnon? First-overall pick. Sidney Crosby? First-overall pick.
Those are the top players in the sport today, and they were all chosen with the top pick, but do you know where the other good players get drafted? Second overall, and that’s exactly where van Riemsdyk was taken by the Flyers all the way back in 2007.
Timo Meier on the other hand had to wait a whole eight(!) spots to hear his name get called by the Sharks. That is just embarrassing.
He once looked absolutely ridiculous
Meier is cursed with looking like the sternest dude you have ever seen or someone that would be cast as a Bond villain.
On the other hand, van Riemsdyk has the loveable relatability of once looking absolutely ridiculous at one point in his life, like he did at the NHL Draft.
Do you really want to deal with the ego that comes with a player that has never had to worry about his looks? Hell no! You want some comfort in knowing that your star winger knows what it is like to have a terrible haircut at the most important moment of your life.
He’s used to Eastern Time
Meier has been kicking it back in sunny California for his entire NHL career. Knowing nothing but nice weather and being where everyone wants to be at some point through their day. That is just being way too comfortable.
When it comes to van Riemsdyk he has played in two places: Philadelphia and Toronto. Two cities where seasons actually change and have a massive population of different people. He knows this life of not always being in the perfect scenario and he shows it on the ice. Van Riemsdyk does the work, just like the people from where he applied his craft. Meier? Too easy.
Really, why even bother with Meier? You clearly have the better option still available.
