James van Riemsdyk, the 34 year old winger, has signed a contract. This is an interesting type of move at this time of ‘JVR’s’ career, as it is tough to project his potential productivity as this point of his playing career. The deal he signs with the Columbus Blue Jackets today is a one-year deal, worth $900K.
The Blue Jackets have signed JVR to a one year, $900k deal.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) September 15, 2024
American Left Winger James van Riemsdyk Signs New Deal
Ahead of the 2023-24 season, James van Riemsdyk allowed Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney to take a flyer on him at $1 million for one year. Van Riemsdyk proved to the Bruins organization that he was a solid bargain, given his mix of veteran leadership and productivity.
When we analyze James van Riemsdyk stats, we see he has still maintained a level of consistency. He has always provided for his team when they needed it the most. Moreover, he is a seven-time, 20-goal scorer. His career-high was 36 goals, although he only has a career-high in points of 62. Therefore, if you look at this past year’s statistics, he has done an admirable job of adapting his game, as he’s more of a passer at this point of his career with 11 goals and 27 assists in 71 games played for the Boston Bruins in 2023-24.
Furthermore, one statistic that seems to stand out for van Riemsdyk, is his consistent point-per-game levels. Through his 15-year NHL career, appearing in a little over 1000 career games, his PPG has always been within a range of 0.45 and 0.77. Therefore, not only has he consistently scored, he never really has missed a lot of games.
What Does He Bring to the Blue Jacket Lineup
There was a time, perhaps back to his early days with the Toronto Maple Leafs, when James van Riemsdyk was a premier power forward in the game. He may have lost that aspect to his game, but now he can provide mentorship to the younger players on the roster. An invaluable trait for the likes of Adam Fantilli, Kirill Marchenko, and Kent Johnson, as an example. As we discussed, he is still able to produce consistently, so can play throughout the bottom-three lines, and on a successful second power play unit.
Main photo credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
