Toronto Maple Leafs Unlikely To Keep James van Riemsdyk
With every passing day, it seems more likely the Toronto Maple Leafs will have to part ways with James van Riemsdyk after this season.
It’s not too often the Toronto Maple Leafs can’t afford to keep a key player. But when it comes to James van Riemsdyk it’s likely about to happen. The Maple Leafs winger is currently in his sixth season with the blue and white. It could be his last given van Riemsdyk is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
Since he was stolen away from the Philadelphia Flyers in a straight up trade for Luke Schenn, JVR has been a consistent point producer for the Maple Leafs. He’s coming off a career year of 62 points last season and is already on pace for the third 60-point season of his career.
More from Puck Prose
- Detroit Red Wings 2023 Rookie Camp Has Plenty of Ups and Downs
- This Columbus Blue Jackets rookie doesn’t want to be forgotten
- 2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley Cup
- 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024
- This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings
Unfortunately, it’s difficult to see how Toronto will be able to keep van Riemsdyk, given the team’s upcoming salary cap issues. At some point within the next two years, the Maple Leafs will need to give new contracts to William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and Auston Matthews. All three players will be receiving significant raises with Matthews set to earn at least $10 million per season.
The Maple Leafs have been beneficiaries of one of the best cap-friendly contracts in the league with van Riemsdyk’s current deal. At a cap-hit of $4.2 million for van Riemsdyk, Toronto has had an incredible discount on a 60-point player given other teams have paid twice as much for similar production.
At 22-years old, van Riemsdyk signed his current deal when he was still developing as a player in Philadelphia for only $25.5 million over six years. It’s easily one of the best bargain contracts in the salary cap era given the player van Riemsdyk has become. It also wouldn’t be surprising for it being the major reason why van Riemsdyk chases the biggest contract he can get in the summer.
Although Toronto may be an up and coming contender, van Riemsdyk has been underpaid essentially his entire career. If any team offers a big money contract then it may be too tempting of an offer to pass up.
Many teams could view van Riemsdyk as the final piece to push them over the edge for a playoff berth or even championship contender. After all, on top of all his regular season points, van Riemsdyk is also a former Olympian with Team USA and has 25 playoff points under his belt. He was also named as one of Toronto’s 100 greatest players last season during the team’s centennial celebration.
There have been rumors the Maple Leafs would love to sign van Riemsdyk to a deal similar to what the Washington Capitals gave T.J. Oshie last summer. The Capitals signed Oshie to an eight-year deal worth $46 million with an annual cap hit of $5.75 million. With van Riemsdyk being three years younger than Oshie it wouldn’t be surprising for Toronto to offer a similar long-term deal. The Maple Leafs have already handed out a seven-year deal to Nikita Zaitsev back in May.
Next: Each NHL Team's New Year's Resolution
The Oshie deal would be a best-case scenario for Toronto if they hope to keep van Riemsdyk. However, given the players the Maple Leafs still have to pay on top of van Riemsdyk, along with the cap space needed to fill out the remainder of the roster, it seems like one player who Toronto won’t be able to afford is van Riemsdyk.