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NHL Free Agency 2018: Philadelphia Flyers to sign James van Riemsdyk

By Dave Stevenson

TORONTO, ON - MARCH 10: Toronto Maple Leafs Left Wing James van Riemsdyk (25) reacts during the NHL regular season game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 10, 2018, at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, ON, Canada. (Photograph by Julian Avram/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - MARCH 10: Toronto Maple Leafs Left Wing James van Riemsdyk (25) reacts during the NHL regular season game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 10, 2018, at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, ON, Canada. (Photograph by Julian Avram/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Various reports have the Philadelphia Flyers signing forward James van Riemsdyk to a five-year deal once NHL free agency begins

NHL free agency is nearly underway. While it doesn’t officially start until July 1 at 12:00 noon ET, deals are starting to get leaked. One of those is a bit of a surprising one. The Philadelphia Flyers are expected to sign forward James van Riemsdyk to a five-year deal. Reports have the deal worth $35 million total, which will give him a $7 million annual cap hit.

Flyers fans might remember van Riemsdyk from his first stint with the team. He played with them from 2009 to 2012 after being drafted by them with the second overall pick of the 2007 NHL Draft. In 196 games, van Riemsdyk put up 99 points, including 47 goals.

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He was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in June of 2012 for defenseman Luke Schenn. At the time, the Flyers also had his brother Brayden Schenn. The trade didn’t work out, as van Riemsdyk emerged as one of the league’s most consistent goal scoring power forwards.

With the Leafs, JVR scored 154 goals and accumulated 294 points in 413 games. He twice hit the 30 goal milestone with them, including a career-high 36 goals in 2017-18. 11 of those 36 goals came on the power-play, which is where van Riemsdyk should really help the Flyers.

The addition of JVR is a good one by Philly. They should never have let him go in the first place. JVR should fit in on the Flyers second line, though maybe now they can afford to separate their two best players (Sean Couturier and Claude Giroux). It’ll be interesting to see how they deploy van Riemsdyk, though it will most likely be in a scoring role.

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This is also interesting because one can assume he will replace Wayne Simmonds as the net-front presence on the power-play. Is this a sign that he could be traded or that he will not be returning to the Flyers after next season when he becomes a free agent?

Be sure to check out our NHL Free Agency hub page to stay updated! Also, check out our free agent tracker for updated analysis and grades.

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