Inconsistency was once again the story for van Riemsdyk. What can the Flyers do to help him?
Despite a decent run by the Flyers in the playoffs, James van Riemsdyk must have felt frustration at his usage and his performance. Van Riemsdyk found himself in the press box as a healthy scratch several times during playoffs, which must have been just as surprising for the forward who made $7M last season as it was for the fans.
Van Riemsdyk did manage to produce some offense. In his 12 games JVR picked up only two goals, at even strength. Two goals is not overly impressive, but to add perspective it was more than Giroux and Konecny netted combined. If there was an underlying theme to the Flyers eventual exit from the playoffs, it is that players that were supposed to carry the offense failed to. Van Riemsdyk was not different.
Van Riemsdyk’s advanced metrics were not great. Like the rest of the team JVR struggled with corsi, clocking in at just under 46%. What was more disturbing was the goal differential. At even strength he was a minus 3, tied with Thompson and Pitlick for worst on the team. JVR will never win the Selke, but the way coaches used him did not do him any favors.
JVR’s usage at even strength was puzzling, even before the return of Oskar Lindblom. When JVR was in the lineup, he was most used with Tyler Pitlick and Scott Laughton. While the selection of Laughton and Pitlick make some sense as table setters for JVR, the usage does not. JVR spent only 43% of his 5 on 5 time on ice with Pitlick, and only 33% with Laughton.
It appears that JVR had landed on the hockey version of the Island of Misfit Toys. By comparison, Hayes spent over 90% of his 5 on 5 TOI with Konecny. Michael Raffl, whose versatility has made him a refugee between lines for years, had more continuity than JVR, spending just under 46% of his 5 on 5 TOI with Nate Thompson. It seems clear that the coaching staff, even beyond the healthy scratches, had trouble finding a place for Van Riemsdyk.
As one might expect JVR did little on the penalty kill, with no time on ice while the team was short-handed. What was more surprising was his limited role on the power play. JVR played slightly less than 25 minutes on the man advantage, just over two minutes a game. This is surprising for a couple of reasons.
First, what ever short comings JVR may have, the power play is not one of them. If he is elite in any area, a net front presence on the powerplay would be it. Under any normal circumstance, JVR should be on the first unit powerplay. But these were not normal circumstances, were they?
The powerplay was dreadful, and nearly completely ineffective. It seems giving JVR more power play minutes would be the first thing coaches might do to try and fix it. But that never really happened for the Flyers. It is another of the inexplicable coaching decisions that I just can’t seem to reason out, and it it made JVR a powerplay after thought.
JVR’s playoff run is about what you would expect, brief explosive displays of incredible talent, followed by long periods of play that was mostly uninspired and at times bordering on disinterested. This is how he likes to play the game, and as a fan it is maddening. It makes you feel there is so much more he could give, if he could just motivate himself to give it all.
While it would be easy to pile on JVR ,and it is tempting to grade him more harshly, the coaching staffs’ decisions surrounding him need to be recognized and evaluated. The bottom six was a mess for most of the playoffs, and that had little to do with JVR and much more to do with a staff that could not put the pieces together.
The lack of JVR on the power play, one that mightily struggled, is beyond any reasoned explanation. It is possible that there was a rift between player and coaches. It could be JVR came in horribly out of shape. But it looks more like the staff does not have a hole for JVR who looks to be a bit of square peg.
A dominant JVR may have made the difference in the series, but JVR was far from that. Some of the blame rests on his shoulders, but the staff never gave him a chance to dominate. It is hard to win games from the press box or when you change line mates more often than socks.
The playoffs should set off alarm bells for the coming season, as there appears to be no good plan for JVR, and that should concern every fan.