Broken Foot for Van Riemsdyk

The Philadelphia Flyers and James Van Riemsdyk just can't catch a break this season, unless it's a bone. On Friday, the 22-year old underwent surgery to repair a broken bone in his left foot and now he is expected to miss the next 4-to-6 weeks worth of action, placing his possible return near the middle of April.  With the regular season scheduled to end on April 7th, there is a chance that Van Riemsdyk may not be able to return before the end of it.

The Flyers are in the playoff race, however, so he may be should be able to figure into the line-up for some playoff action, which will likely be a much-needed addition down the stretch.

This being Van Riemsdyk's third full season in the NHL, it was thought that he would be able to really break out with a bit more responsibility in the Flyers line-up after the trades that saw Mike Richards and Jeff Carter leave the organization, but injuries have been a major concern in his season and he grows near the injury prone tag, which may scare people away from his fantasy value, which is sure to grow over time.

In 43 games this season, Van Riemsdyk has 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points, which is only good enough for 262nd overall in pool scoring, already below his rookie season ranking of 236th and it will continue to drop, the longer he stays out of the line-up.  A very disappointing year, to say the least.

It was a horribly unlucky season for Scott G. and his favourite Philadelphia Flyers, as he just couldn't string together long stretches without injury this year.  Scott's skaters are among the pool's worst for games played this season, which has led to his 19th overall spot in the standings.  Having the games played is half the battle in the pool, most of which is luck, but there is some planning that can be done.