Report: Flyers Put James van Riemsdyk on NHL Trade Block

It was a chaotic Saturday for the Philadelphia Flyers. Lukas Sedlak left the team to return home to Czechia and resume his hockey career there. Coach John Tortorella followed his third period benching of Kevin Hayes on Thursday by making Hayes, the Flyers’ leading scorer, a healthy scratch on Saturday against the New York Rangers. And Jeff Marek on Hockey Night in Canada added a Flyers name to the NHL trade chatter.

According to Marek, during the intermission segment 32 Thoughts, Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher will listen to offers on James van Riemsdyk.

“The Philadelphia Flyers have made him available,” Marek said. “The actual cash here is $5 million (and) $1 million has already been paid as a bonus going back to last summer. The cap hit is $7 million … and the Flyers could eat some of that as well to make it more palatable for a team looking at James van Riemsdyk.”

Marek believes he would be a good fit for a team looking for power-play help and, of course, a playoff team. van Riemsdyk will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.

The only other pending Flyers UFA is defenseman Justin Braun.

van Riemsdyk, 33, has put up points this season and could become one of the more attractive available on the NHL trade market. In 12 games, he has five goals and 11 points. He scored a goal Saturday in the 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers but was a minus-3. Last season, the 6-foot-3, 217-pound LW notched 24 tallies.

The Philadelphia Flyers are sixth from the bottom in the NHL and headed toward a lottery pick. They’re next to last in the Eastern Conference.

The NHL holiday break begins on Dec. 23 and extends through Dec. 26. Teams cannot make trades or roster moves during that time.