There has been little discussion between the Maple Leafs and pending unrestricted free agent winger James van Riemsdyk, reports Frank Seravalli of TSN. He adds that despite a mutual desire for van Riemsdyk to stay in Toronto, there aren’t likely to be talks any time soon.
The 28-year-old has been one of the more consistent goal scorers in recent years and is off to a strong start in 2017-18 as well, tallying 15 times in 31 games. Not only does that lead the team, his goal total places him for a tie for ninth in the entire league despite averaging his lowest ice time per game since 2010-11, his sophomore season. As a result, he’s positioning himself to be one of the most sought-after free agents next July and will be poised to land a big raise on his $5MM salary and $4.25MM cap charge.
Meanwhile, Toronto is looking at a situation where they will have to hand out significant second contracts to top young forwards Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander within the next two years with a price tag that could approach $25MM between the three of them. With that in mind, the sense is that the team may not want to commit to another big-ticket deal at this time knowing that these contracts are on the horizon. It certainly seems like van Riemsdyk is well aware of this, saying that “At this point, I’m just playing it out”.
Seravalli adds that there is an understanding that van Riemsdyk isn’t expected to be dealt by the February 26th trade deadline. Instead, with Toronto believing that they can contend for a Stanley Cup this season, they’ll use him as an internal rental which is something they’ll likely do with center Tyler Bozak as well. In doing so, they’ll run the risk of potentially losing him for nothing but if the trade-off is a long playoff run, it’s certainly an understandable call to make.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
This is the Shanahan/Lamarillo era. Their long-term plans for the Leafs will not include words like rental and phrases like Midseason Contract talks. If they make any moves, you can bet it will be for a Strong D-man with at least a couple years of control under him. Otherwise there’s nothing they they’ll take away from the current squad to put up some run. This is year 3 of a 5-year plan and they made the playoffs ahead of schedule. They’ll contend, but not by selling off for short term rentals…period!