The Philadelphia Flyers have announced that forward James van Riemsdyk is sidelined for five to six weeks with a lower-body injury.
INJURY UPDATE: James van Riemsdyk will be out approximately 5-6 weeks with a lower-body injury. https://t.co/RZBDTeIcp8
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 8, 2018
James van Riemsdyk Injured
The Middletown, N.J. native left in the first period after recording five minutes, 13 seconds of ice time in Saturday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche. He blocked a pair of shots in quick succession in the first period.
van Riemsdyk handed out an assist in the season-opening win over the Vegas Golden Knights. He was also called for a minor penalty during that game. van Riemsdyk totaled 13:59 of ice time in that game. His possession numbers were 56.7 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of 10.5.
The 29-year-old has played for the Philadelphia Flyers and the Toronto Maple Leafs during his 10-year NHL career. He has put up 201 goals and 193 assists for 394 career points in 611 career games. The Philadelphia Flyers originally drafted in the first round, second overall of the 2007 NHL draft.
van Riemsdyk was the biggest signing of Flyers’ general manager’s Ron Hextall‘s tenure in charge. He signed a five-year, $35 million deal in the off-season to return to Philadelphia after six years in Toronto.
What This Means for the Future
The loss of “JVR” will severely test the team’s depth. He was on the third line with rookie centre Mikhail Vorobyev and Wayne Simmonds. That third line boasted a pair of former 30-goal scorers, but someone else will have to step into the lineup.
Dale Weise could move into the lineup and Michael Raffl would take van Riemsdyk’s spot on the third line. Prospect Carsen Twarynski might get a shot at making the big club.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel‘s two-goal performance for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL season-opener over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers will also get him consideration. He had a solid training camp and is on the short list of call ups.
PHILADELPHIA, PA. – Philadelphia Flyers forward James van Riesmdyk skates against Boston Bruins Jeremy Lauzon in a pre-season game on Sept. 24. (Photo Credit: Kate Frese)
