The Boston Bruins have signed left winger James van Riemsdyk to a one-year contract value $1 million. Elliotte Friedman of SportsNet first reported the information.
The Philadelphia Flyers chosen van Riemsdyk with the second-overall choose within the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. He’s performed 14 NHL seasons between the Flyers and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Bruins Add van Riemsdyk
The 34-year-old had arguably the most effective all-around season of his profession for the Philadelphia Flyers within the shortened 2020-21 marketing campaign with a stable defensive effort and higher versatility in his offensive sport as a playmaker. He regressed considerably in 2021-22, though he nonetheless led the group in objectives with 24. He confirmed flashes of ability with 12 objectives and 17 assists in 2022-23, however he didn’t regain a constant rhythm.
He’s well liked by teammates and the media, and he was Philadelphia’s participant consultant for the NHLPA earlier than handing the title over to Travis Sanheim final 12 months. A seasoned skilled with a very good fame across the league will simply match into the brand new locker room in Boston.
Match with Bruins
The previous College of New Hampshire star has connections to the New England space. He’ll step in as a veteran presence for a group ready to listen to in the event that they’ll lose both or each of their two trusted veteran facilities David Krejci and captain Patrice Bergeron. van Riemsdyk has scored 300 profession objectives in 940 regular-season video games and 20 objectives in 71 playoff video games. Boston shouldn’t depend on him as a top-six caliber participant able to scoring 30 objectives within the late stage of his profession. Nonetheless, the $1 million effectively provides some offense to their lineup to offset probably main losses.
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He has used his 6-foot-3 body to turn into a helpful net-front presence on the ability play all through his profession. Nonetheless, his position on the person benefit pale by the top of his tenure in Philadelphia, and he scored solely two power-play objectives in 2022-23.
The $1 million wage doesn’t come as a lot of a shock after the occasions surrounding the 2023 NHL Commerce Deadline. van Riemsdyk regarded like a no brainer as a commerce candidate, however he remained with the Flyers for the remainder of the season. Former normal supervisor Chuck Fletcher spoke bluntly on the file about how no group had curiosity in buying van Riemsdyk, even when the Flyers had retained a portion of his wage.
Legacy with Flyers
The information wraps up an attention-grabbing legacy for a participant they chose with the second-overall choose. After their worst season in franchise historical past in 2006-07, the Flyers fell to the second spot within the draft lottery despite the fact that they completed with the worst file. The Chicago Blackhawks chosen Patrick Kane with the first-overall choose, and he has outperformed van Riemsdyk considerably all through their respective NHL careers.
Associated: 2023 NHL Free Company Tracker
After dealing van Riemsdyk in 2012, they reunited with their former prime prospect on a five-year, $35 million contract in 2018. It was their costliest and most outstanding free agent acquisition in the course of the tenure of normal supervisor (GM) Ron Hextall.