While there have been rumblings that the Maple Leafs could potentially be shopping left winger James van Riemsdyk, he’s not letting that talk affect him, writes Mark Zwolinski of the Toronto Star. Given his contract ($4.25MM this season and next), the spot that Toronto is currently in, and the demand for top six talent, there is some logic in suggesting the team could possibly deal him. For his part, van Riemsdyk isn’t too worried about the chatter:
“You’ve gone through it before… That kind of thing, it was different in Philly. It would eat at you a lot more back then. You take it more personally back then and you never thought those things would happen to you. But not so much now, now that you’ve been through it.”
While van Riemsdyk may not be bothered by the speculation surrounding him and, to a lesser degree, William Nylander, head coach Mike Babcock was looking to put an end to it:
“We’re not looking to move those guys. There’s been a bunch of talk, a bunch of talk about Willy too, and I said to those guys, just play hard… We’re not looking to move them. There can be a truth one day and that truth can change the next… There’s noise (media) and you know you guys can make a lot of noise.“
With Toronto being the major media market that it is though, it’s unlikely that the chatter regarding van Riemsdyk will subside any time soon, no matter how much the team publicly indicates that they’re not shopping him.
More from the Atlantic:
- Keith Yandle’s streak of 577 consecutive games played will come to an end tonight after leaving yesterday’s game in the first period due to a lower body injury, notes the Sun Sentinel’s Harvey Fialkov. Interim head coach Tom Rowe told reporters that Yandle will be out for a while, though there is no specific timeframe for his return. Dylan McIlrath is expected to draw into the lineup in Yandle’s spot tonight in Philadelphia.
- The Lightning have assigned defenseman Luke Witkowski and center Michael Bournival to their AHL affiliate in Syracuse, the team announced. The moves leave Tampa Bay with just 12 healthy forwards on the active roster although right winger Ryan Callahan is nearing a return to action and could be ready to return for their next game on Thursday.