Bright: What’s Eating James van Riemsdyk?
It’s not a secret that 22-year-old James van Riemsdyk isn’t having the season that many, including the Flyers, expected after inking a six-year, $25.5-million contract this offseason.
And it seems that as the weather gets colder, so does the forward’s production.
With another goose egg on Monday against the Colorado Avalanche, van Riemsdyk’s scoreless streak has hit eight games, not counting his oh-so-nasty shootout goal that had Flyers fans wondering where that JVR, the one with silky smooth hands, was hiding.
In a four-game stretch without leading scorer Claude Giroux, a time in which the Flyers needed him the most, van Riemsdyk came up short, registering just one primary assist and a secondary helper. Lacking the extra gear to his game that impressed so thoroughly during the 2011 postseason, JVR continued his longest drought of the season, going oh-for-December.
In fact, van Riemsdyk’s production has been so limited, that he is tied with fourth-line staple Zac Rinaldo in December points despite playing nearly 10 more minutes per game. It should be noted that Rinaldo’s two helpers were both primary, unlike van Riemsdyk’s.
Van Riemsdyk’s slump doesn’t appear to be more than a minor downturn because his seasonal numbers — eight goals and 10 assists in 27 games — isn’t atrocious. The stats are suitable and in the ballpark for JVR to rebound into a successful season.
But this winter slump is a symptom of an inconsistent and veiled down year.
What isn’t seen on the surface is that four of van Riemsdyk’s eight goals came in games the Flyers scored seven-plus goals (7-2 win in Ottawa, 9-8 loss to Winnipeg and 9-2 win against Columbus), with three of those four goals coming in the third period with the game either out-of-hand or in a boat race. In other words, van Riemsdyk’s luke-warm statistics reflect him capitalizing heavily in garbage time and in defensively-inept contests.
The budding power forward has also only scored in back-to-back games once this season, on Nov. 2 and Nov. 5. His limited production is sporadic and his game has been limited. Noticeable throughout recent games has been JVR’s inability to edge defenders in a one-on-one situations despite trying. His strong first step to the net has been lacking and he hasn’t been able to gain room in tough areas, forcing his team-high 87 shots to be mostly from the outside.
Now while his production lag could be chalked up to a number of reasons, this recent stretch of impotency may be attributed to his injuries, most recently an upper-body affliction that kept him out for two weeks in late November. However, his lack of jump speaks more to the possibility of a lingering lower-body injury, which would explain his lost step and missing power.
Unsubstantiated injuries aside, whatever is keeping JVR from performing to his game-changing capability is directly hurting the Flyers. With the forward holding a key role as a top-six forward, and earning top-six minutes, JVR is asked to contribute more than he has and take a magnified role on a club decimated by injuries.
Whether he is still getting used to his linemates, rotating centers or lack of power-play time, the point has come for van Riemsdyk to find what is ailing his 5-on-5 game and work hard to fix it. Because as it stands and as numbers indicate, the future of the Flyers has been little more than dead weight.
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