Does James van Riemsdyk have a future with the Flyers?

Is there a way James van Riemsdyk can fit himself into future Flyers plans?

In what was a largely successful 2019-2020 season for the Flyers, there were some things that did not turn out the way that Flyers fan wanted. By the time they lost Game Seven in the second round of the playoffs by the New York Islanders and were subsequently eliminated from the postseason, James van Riemsdyk had managed to get himself reinserted into the lineup.

James van Riemsdyk, Philadelphia Flyers (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

He started to look like someone that could contribute to the Flyers offensively, but it had not often been the case in the playoffs.

The 31-year old NHL veteran was having a decent regular season, however, the same could not be said for the postseason. In the regular season that was shortened due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, he scored 19 goals and earned 21 assists in 63 games.

He played up and down the lineup, sometimes on the ice with Giroux, and other times sharing the ice with center Kevin Hayes, but as the regular season started to progress he found himself paired with Tyler Pitlick and Derek Grant on most nights.

Van Riemsdyk’s regular season was put to an abrupt halt when he sustained a broken finger in the game against the Washington Capitals on May 4th. While he was expected to miss four to six weeks, the National Hockey League announced just three days after the diagnosis that they would suspend the regular season indefinitely due to the pandemic.

The stoppage would eventually give way to the playoffs and that is where things appeared to go downhill rather quickly for van Riemsdyk.

Van Riemsdyk seemed to start slow in the playoffs and then got even slower. He was scratched for one of the seeding games and then was a healthy scratch in multiple games in the playoff series against the Montreal Canadians and the New York Islanders.

Philadelphia Flyers

What happened to van Riemsdyk? Was the injury still lingering and impacting him?

While it’s clearly unknown what caused his slump in the playoffs, the problem has to be fixed soon. The New Jersey native will count towards $7 million against the salary cap for the next three years.

When JVR has all things going well for him, he is nearly impossible to handle in front of the net. He is underrated as a playmaker, making smart tips and passes to open spots of the ice. There is a world of talent there.

The issue then becomes, as with all players, how to maximize the good and minimize the bad. With JVR’s makeup of strengths and weaknesses, this is an extremely difficult riddle to piece together.

What can the Flyers coaching staff do to help van Riemsdyk not to get off a bad start in the upcoming season?

More Powerplay Time: van Riemsdyk needs his powerplay time. In the 2019-2020 season playoffs, he recorded less than 25 minutes on the powerplay. Sean Couturier and the scoreless Travis Konecny had over 48 minutes.

Playing in 66 games where van Riemsdyk has seen time on the ice during a powerplay, he scored six goals. While with Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2017-2018 season, he had scored eleven goals during powerplays.

Finding van Riemsdyk Compatible Linemates: Van Riemsdyk’s amazing strengths offensively would seem to make him a lock for the top six, however his weaknesses, namely the lack of a forechecking disposition and any interest in defense make it very hard to put him there. This is what makes things difficult. Losing both of his usual linemates, Tyler Pitlick and Derek Grant, does not make it any easier.