Building A Philadelphia Flyers Team With Tri-State Area Players

Trevor van Riemsdyk - Middletown Township, NJ

If you're going to have one van Riemsdyk, might as well bring the other one with you. It helps that this one did have an invite to the Flyers' prospect camp in 2012. Trevor began his NHL career with the Chicago Blackhawks as an undrafted free agent and was a part of the 2015 Stanley Cup team, his first season in the league. He played in four postseason games, all coming in the final round against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

From there, he played two more seasons with the Blackhawks before moving to the Carolina Hurricanes for three seasons. That came after he was selected by Vegas in the 2017 expansion draft before quickly being traded to Carolina. He matched a career-high 16 points in his first season. However, his ice time steadily dipped during his time with the Hurricanes. Now with Capitals since 2020, van Riemsdyk has taken on a bigger role and seen his offense come to life.

He posted a career-high seven goals and 23 points with Washington during the 2022-23 season. While he had 14 points, which were all assists last season, he was arguably one of the team's best defenders. He signed a three-year extension back in 2023.

Mattias Samuelsson - Voorhees Township, NJ

Samuelsson has a few ties to the Flyers organization despite not having played a game for the team. His father, Kjell, spent nearly six seasons with Philadelphia and became a rather reliable defender. Allie Samuelsson, a relative, is the team's Hockey Communications Coordinator and has been with the Flyers since 2017.

Samuelsson himself has only been in the league for four seasons and has faced injury issues in the last three seasons. He drew trade interest, though the team reportedly had no interest in dealing him. He signed a seven-year extension ahead of this last season.

Despite the injuries, Samuelsson has steadily improved over the course of his young career. He can play over 20 minutes a game and has held his own on the top pairing with Rasmus Dahlin. Injuries are a concern, but he's a solid young piece to build a team around.