The Toronto Maple Leafs should take advantage of the disfunction in Philadelphia and trade for James Van Riemsdyk.
It’s no secret that the Toronto Maple Leafs could use another top-six forward, so why not bring back a player everyone’s familiar with?
At $7M, Van Riemsdyk’s contract is steep, but he only has this year remaining on the deal. As a result, both team’s could get creative in order for JVR to return to Toronto.
When the Leafs named their top 100 players in team history, JVR was ranked as the 100th best player of the franchise. For a team that was around 100 years, that’s a pretty impressive honour and it would be great to see him back in the blue-and-white.
At 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, Van Riemsdyk’s size is one of his best attributes, especially on the power-play. Even in the tighest of areas, JVR could use his soft hands around the net to score from impossible angles.
Toronto Maple Leafs Should Explore a JVR Trade
Van Riemsdyk’s production has faltered a bit lately, but a lot of that has to do with who he’s playing with every night. Although it was a few years ago, JVR benefited tremendously from playing alongside Mitch Marner, as he scored a career-high 36 goals in the 2017-18 campaign beside him.
As we all know, Marner is a very special player to play alongside as his skills have helped Matthews win a Hart Trophy and John Tavares score his career-high in goals as well.
If JVR were to return to the Leafs, I can’t see a better situation for him than to play alongside Marner and Tavares on the second-line.
That second-line has seen a number of different options throughout the season, but nothing has seemingly fit for the long-haul. The trio of Michael Bunting-Auston Matthews-William Nylander seem like they’re not going anywhere, so an addition of JVR to the second line with Marner and Tavares would be just as good as any other team’s top-line.
After starting the year on Injured Reserve, JVR has five goals and 12 points in 13 games and is playing very well. That play will definitely help raise his stock around the NHL Trade Deadline, which is why Toronto should try to acquire him.
As a pending UFA, Van Riemsdyk’s hoping for one more big contract before he retires, so he’s going to push his effort to the max to get that.
By getting traded to Toronto, he’s going to maximize that contract even higher, as he should put up tremendous stats in the Leafs top-six.
If the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to take a chance on a big trade this year, they may as well go back to someone they’re familiar with. He had a fantastic career in the blue-and-white, so let’s see it happen again.