Could the Flyers Trade JVR to the Penguins?

It’s no secret that James van Riemsdyk is on the trade block. The Flyers forward is a somewhat hot commodity these days. Bo Horvat, Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko have been traded and Jonathan Toews is off the market. Timo Meier remains the hot name for now. Once the big names are gone, the second-tier impact players, JVR among them, will be moved as we get closer to next week’s trade deadline.

There has been a lot of speculation as to where he could go. The Hurricanes have a hole to fill with Max Pacioretty out. Some of the Western Conference teams have reportedly been inquiring about his availability as they look to make a playoff push. It is also possible that whoever loses out on Meier (Sabres, Devils, Canes) could turn their attention to Philly.

However, I’d like to offer another team: the Pittsburgh Penguins. Now, I know the sight of ANY Flyer wearing that snot yellow and black instead of orange and black is enough to make you gag. It’s still hard to see Jeff Carter there <shudders>. But let’s see how these teams fit.

The Metropolitan Division race is getting tighter. The hottest teams in the NHL are right in our division. The Hurricanes have been strong all season. The Devils are hot on their heels and are in the hunt for Meier. The Rangers, after getting Tarasenko, have been on fire.  Islanders made a huge splash by getting Horvat, although they will lose Matt Barzal for the near future.

Currently, the Isles have the eighth and final playoff spot, but are dealing with several key injuries to other players besides Barzal. The Capitals are one point behind the Pens and Islanders, but are also dealing with Alex Ovechkin’s absence.

For the Pens, this is make it or break it time. They can’t catch up to Carolina, New Jersey, or New York. Their best bet is to load up and do what they can to fend off the Caps and Isles as much as they can while keeping pace.

Despite their age, the Penguins are still loaded with top tier talent. Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Evgeni Malkin, and Rickard Rakell have all scored more than 20 goals. That’s a well spread out offense. But they will need more.

Here’s where JVR fits in to the picture. He can slide easily onto any of their top three lines and add a veteran scoring presence. He could give them that little push needed to get past what is looking at becoming a very rough first round of hockey in the Eastern Conference.

The problem is that the Penguins have just $1.35 million in cap space to play with. That’s probably not going to be enough. But maybe if the Flyers eat some money, take away one of their fourth line/bench guys, and one of their prospects, like Filip Hallander or Samuel Poulin, it might work out.

The Pens have said that they will not trade their first round pick, but they might deal away their third or fourth round picks that are tied to NJ. Maybe the Flyers can sweeten the deal by tossing in Kieffer Bellows. We get another young guy to help go forward and they can get a scoring piece to help get into the playoffs.