Toronto Maple Leafs: Take Advantage of Cap-Space
One van Riemsdyk is a very good fit for the Toronto Maple Leafs, how about a matched set?
Trevor van Riemsdyk, the younger brother of Toronto Maple Leafs winger James signed with Chicago as a free agent out of the University of New Hampshire March 25, 2014. Despite skating in only 26 games for the Wildcats during the 13-14 season, van Riemsdyk finished the year as their sixth leading scorer posting .885 ppg. (points per game)
Born born July 24, 1991, the 6’2, 190 lb., Middleton, NJ native is the right-handed, defensive minded partner that Morgan Rielly needs. At 26, van Riemsdyk seems like the right age, while having the skill-set to fit with the young Toronto Maple Leafs core.
"van Riemsdyk, plays a no-frills, defense-first style — using his size and positioning to support his partner and prevent scoring chances. He displayed puck moving ability and play making at the junior and college levels so there could be some upside in that area. The strength of his game at the pro level to this point has been responsible play in his own end of the rink. hockeysfuture.com"
Trevor van Riemsdyk is a good young defenceman
From my observations, TvR is a defender who quietly does most things well. Furthermore TvR is a decent skater with good balance and mobility. He sees the ice well and for zone exits in addition to his ability to make short crisp break-out passes. Skating the puck out of danger while finding open lanes is a must on a Babcock run team.
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Rather than overpowering opponents with physical play, TvR’s defensive strength is his positioning . Furthermore, he has the skill set to play a Mike Babcock system and while his numbers aren’t those of an elite defenceman, he will grow within the Maple Leafs systems.
| Corsi (EV) | Fenwick (EV) | PDO (EV) | Zone Starts (EV) | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Age | Team | Lg | GP | ||||||||||||||
| 2014-15 | 23 | CHI | NHL | 18 | 237.5 | 253 | 171 | 59.7 | 2.7 | 180 | 134 | 57.3 | 0.8 | 4.2 | 93.8 | 98.0 | 64.0 | 36.0 |
| 2015-16 | 24 | CHI | NHL | 82 | 1450.7 | 1310 | 1332 | 49.6 | -2.0 | 940 | 949 | 49.8 | -0.8 | 7.3 | 91.9 | 99.2 | 52.7 | 47.3 |
| 2016-17 | 25 | CHI | NHL | 58 | 985.8 | 914 | 889 | 50.7 | 0.4 | 667 | 633 | 51.3 | 1.0 | 10.6 | 92.6 | 103.2 | 50.8 | 49.2 |
| Career | NHL | 158 | 2674.0 | 2477 | 2392 | 50.9 | -0.9 | 1787 | 1716 | 51.0 | -0.2 | 8.2 | 92.3 | 100.5 | 53.2 | 46.8 |
Provided by Hockey-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/9/2017.
The Price is Right!
In conclusion, if the rumors are true and both Krüger and van Riemsdyk are available, the The Toronto Maple Leafs can acquire two useful players without touching the fantastic young core.
Krüger and van Riemsdyk would look great in the Blue and White, what do you think?
all stats: hockey-reference.com, hockeydb.com, hockeysfuture.com