I've Got 7 Words For You All: James van Riemsdyk Is Coming Back, Bitches
We still need to wait for noon EST to hit for the free agency period to officially open up, but as of right now James van Riemsdyk is coming back to Philly on a 5-year, $7M AAV contract. His 3rd contract in the league, all of them signed with the Flyers. At this point everybody knows who JvR is so we don’t have to waste too much time talking about him. Let’s just talk about the contract real quick and what this means.
For starters, James van Riemsdyk was on one of the most team-friendly contracts of all time. He signed a 6-year deal with the Flyers in 2011 for $4.25M AAV. He put up 30 goals in 2013-14, he had 27 in ’14-15, 29 in ’16-17 and then tucked away 36 last season. So the man is a proven 30-goal scorer in the National Hockey League and he was getting paid like some veteran shmuck getting bounced around in the middle six. So you had to have known that JvR was going to cash in on this next contract wherever he ended up. So are some people going to look at that $7 million and think that it’s an overpayment for a 29-year-old James van Riemsdyk who your franchise already traded away 5 years ago? Possibly. But those people are idiots. JvR was going to get paid no matter where he ended up and considering 30-goal scorers don’t just grow on trees, I’m glad the Flyers are the team paying him again and not somebody else.
What is especially great about this deal is the term. JvR could have signed for a maximum of 7 years. But he takes a little less on the term which would probably even itself out to be like a 7-year deal for ~$6-6.5M AAV. If the cap continues to rise, I’d gladly go heavier on value than on term. Those extra 2 years the Flyers bought will be huge down the line when you’re needing to really pay Provorov, Ghost, Patrick, Konecny and Coots. So all in all, it’s not like the Flyers came away from this one with a steal but it’s definitely not a bad contract by any stretch.
And now what this means for the Flyers? Well the most immediate impact is that it makes moving Wayne Simmonds a lot easier for the Flyers now. You look at the top 2 lines. You’ve got Giroux-Couturier-Voracek and then you have JvR-Patrick-Konecny. That’s a loaded top 6. Those are two lines that can go out there and pump the back of the net. Obviously the bottom six still needs a ton of work but those first two lines are an absolute wagon. I don’t think you bring in JvR, especially on that money, if you think you’re heading into next season with Wayne Simmonds. So from what it sounds like, the Flyers will look to move Wayne for a defenseman, preferably out west. Obviously it’ll suck to see Simmonds go considering how much he’s done for the team and the kind of locker room guy he is. But being able to bring something back in return for Simmonds instead of losing him for free next summer will be huge, and now the Flyers have a top 6 who can actually produce come playoff time. And holy shit, think about how good the powerplay is going to be now. Jeeeeeesus christ.
The only down side to this signing? Well JvR just has to get mentally prepared to get bullied by Giroux every day for the next 5 years.
P.S. – About to fire up the Free Agency Live Blog. We’ll have everything updated there throughout the day.