Word came down awfully early on Sunday, that James Van Riemsdyk agreed to a deal with the Philadelphia Flyers, the deal was said to be a 5-year deal, worth $35 million in total, a $7 million cap hit per season.On the list of available UFAs to start the silly season, he was ranked #4, which meant that the 29-year old was set to have himself a pretty good payday. It was thought that he was going to be one of the pieces that were waiting for the John Tavares deal to be completed, before signing his contract, but the Flyers were not exactly one of the teams vying for him, so they were able to provide a pretty good offer to Van Riemsdyk instead.
Van Riemsdyk returns to the team that originally drafted him in 2007, 2nd overall, so it does turn out to be somewhat of a homecoming, at the same time.
Last season, with the Maple Leafs, Van Riemsdyk played in 81 games, scoring 36 goals and 54 points, ranking 113th overall in pool scoring, 82nd among all forwards. His blend of scoring ability and net presence should be a good fit again with the Flyers.
The Flyers started out the day with quite a bit of cap space and with a projected 22-man roster already in tow, I am showing them with another $11.3 million in cap space and still in need of some help on the blueline. This could be a pretty good day for the Flyers, if they can make one more key signing on the back end.
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