JVR - Bait or Wait?

   

   

    A lot has been said in the media over the last several months regarding 22 year old power-forward James van Riemsdyk. James is either as good as traded to bolster an aging defensive corps still reeling from the loss of Captain and future Hall of Famer Chris Pronger due to concussion symptoms, or he is nearly untouchable after signing a 6 year, $25.5 million dollar contract last offseason. Perhaps the only thing keeping him in Philadelphia is the concussion symptoms he is currently battling through. Regardless, there is a compelling argument that can be made for both sides of the coin. 

   If you ask any diehard Flyers fan, journalist, or aficianado, you will hear the same complaints about the latest edition of the Orange and Black; the goaltending and the defense. With Ilya Bryzgalov, whose nicknames have been better than his play on some nights, ('Bryzard of Oz' and 'Universe' to name a few),  locked up for the next 8 years beyond this season, and youngster Sergei Bobrovsky chomping at his bit for a chance to steal the title of number one netminder, it is safe to say the Flyers will not be addressing the goaltending through trade or free agency anytime in the near future. To be fair, the play between-the-pipes has been better since the All-Star break so it may not even need addressing. A dose of consistency wouldn't hurt though. Both Bryzgalov and Bobrovsky seems to take two steps forward before taking one step back. Nonetheless, this leaves the defense as the one area that can and should be improved by the trade deadline if the Flyers intend on making a serious push at their first Stanley Cup in 37 years. On some nights the defense, led by the rejuvenated Kimmo Timonen fresh off of a well-deserved All-Star selection,  along with fellow veterans Braydon Coburn, Andrej Meszaros, and Matt Carle , can be fantastic. On other days, like this past Saturday when the Flyers lost their 5th game of the season (and 8th straight overall) against against the New York Rangers, they can be a nightmare. Head coach Peter Laviolette's "system" can be tough to handle for any defensemen, as it requires the defensemen to constantly pinch to keep pucks deep along the side walls, while still having the wherewithal of protecting their own zone. We have seen bottom-pairing defensemen such as veteran Andreas Lilja and rookie Marc-Andre Bourdon get caught in-between on countless occasions, leading to interference penalties and odd-man rushes resulting in pucks in the back of the net going the other way. Chris Pronger is an expert in this field. He possesses the rare ability to make the right read 99% of the time. What he brings to a lineup is almost impossible to replace. The problem is, you can't acquire a defensemen with enough ability to replace some or all of what Mr. Pronger brought to the table by simply moving a prospect or a draft pick. After changing half of the forwards in the lineup via trade or free agency this offseason on the heels of a dreadful second round sweep at the hands of the eventual Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins last spring, the Flyers unexpectedly boast the second best offense in the NHL. Logic would dictate that in order for the Flyers to improve their defense, the one area they can sacrifice from would be the offense. That brings us back to James van Riemsdyk.

    James has had a roller-coaster start to his NHL career. After losing the 2007 NHL draft lottery to Chicago, despite having the worst record in the NHL and thus the highest chance at securing the 1st overall pick, the Flyers watched Patrick Kane get drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks 1st overall (only to score the Stanley Cup winning overtime goal against them in the 2010 Finals). This left the Flyers with the choice between JVR and Kyle Turris. They made the right choice with JVR, as Kyle Turris had been in between the AHL and the NHL as a member of the Phoenix Coyotes before eventually being traded to the Ottawa Senators this past fall. JVR has not yet lived up to the potential of most 2nd overall draft picks. Dating back to the year 2000, the following players have been drafted 2nd overall (excluding the 2011 draft).

• 2000 - Dany Heatley (F) - Atlanta Thrashers (728 points in 723 career games)
• 2001 - Jason Spezza (F) - Ottawa Senators (586 points in 583 career games)
• 2002 - Kari Lehtonen (G) - Atlanta Thrashers (154 wins, .913 save percentage in 319 games)
• 2003 - Eric Staal (F) - Carolina Hurricanes (543 points in 615 games, 07' Stanley Cup champion)
• 2004 - Evgeni Malkin (F) - Pittsburgh Penguins (480 points in 399 games, 09' Stanley Cup champion)
• 2005 - Bobby Ryan (F) - Anaheim Ducks (234 points in 303 games)
• 2006 - Jordan Staal (F) - Pittsburgh Penguins (219 points in 403 games, 09' Stanley Cup champion and one of the best defensive forwards in the game)
• 2007 - James van Riemsdyk (F)  - Philadelphia Flyers (97 points in 190 games)
• 2008 - Drew Doughty (D) - Los Angeles Kings (151 points in 289 games)
• 2009 - Victor Hedman (D) - Tampa Bay Lightning (54 points in 190 games, two-way defensemen)
• 2010 - Tyler Seguin (F) - Boston Bruins (66 points in 125 games, 11' Stanley Cup champion)

As you can see, the 2nd overall selection in the draft has yielded some of the best players currently playing in the NHL, the majority of which have had multiple All-Star and even Olympic selections. One could argue that JVR may have had the least amount of impact on his team out of these eleven players. Others would argue that power-forwards traditionally take a longer time to develop and the utter dominance that JVR showed during the first 9 games of the 10-11 playoffs (7 goals in the first 9 games) was a glimpse at a fantastic future, rather than a flash in the pan. Legendary Flyers power-forward John LeClair, for comparisons sake, didn't have his first break-out season until he was traded to Philadelphia in 1995 as a 27 year old and paired with Eric Lindros. As they say, the rest is history. Just ask the 40,000 plus Flyers fans, that exploded out of their seats and cried tears of joy watching Eric Lindros set-up John LeClair on a patented 2-on-1 goal one last time in the 2011-2012 Winter Classic alumni game, their thoughts on the career "Johnny Vermont" had as a Flyer (being the first and only American-born player with three consecutive 50 goal seasons is just one of his many accomplishments as a Flyer). The other 29 NHL general managers are aware of just how long it can sometimes take for young power-forwards to fill out their frame with the necessary muscle and improve their skating enough to consistently produce at this level. This leads me to one conclusion; aside from Claude Giroux, JVR has more trade value than any other Philadelphia Flyer.



     It's no secret that the polarizing GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Brian Burke, has been salivating over JVR all season. His team has plenty of defensive depth, but could use a forward with size that can put the puck in the net up front. The rumor-mongers have the Leafs and Flyers as perfect trade-mates. One team could use a boost at forward. The other team could use a boost at defense. The obvious choice would be defensemen Luke Schenn, brother of talented Flyers rookie forward Brayden Schenn. Luke has been inconsistent this season after a very sold second and third season in Toronto. He has even been a healthy scratch at times in an effort to get his game back to where it was last season. He is a two-way defensemen that won't give you much in the offensive department. He projects to be an Adam Foote type with less snarl . He is young, the same age as JVR in fact (22), and he too hasn't met his potential yet, the problem is that even if he does, he still doesn't replace Chris Pronger. He is essentially a slower version of Braydon Coburn. If the Flyers are going to trade one of their most valuable commodities, acquiring a defensemen that will come as close as possible to replacing Chris Pronger has to be the goal. Schenn is a nice defensemen, but he doesn't bring enough to the table to justify trading away James van Riemsdyk. Impending unrestricted free agent defensemen Ryan Suter of the Nashville Predators comes a lot closer to accomplishing the task of replacing "The Beast" than Luke Schenn does. He is already a better player in his own zone, while still producing more on the offensive side of the game. Nashville would be crazy to risk losing Suter for nothing on July 1st when they could move him now for a player with 1st line, LeClair-esque potential. JVR has a rare combination of size, speed, and skill. If the Flyers do feel that trading him to improve their hemorrhaging defense, the return must justify the trade.

One thing is for certain, the Flyers are going to make a trade before the deadline to improve their defense. It doesn't take a genie in a turban with a crystal ball or an 'Ask Zandar' machine to come to this conclusion. Whether it will come in the form of a blockbuster trade that sees local product JVR packing his bags and "taking his toedrag" to Nashville or Toronto, or a minor move for a journeyman defensemen, remains to be seen. 


What do you think? Will the Flyers make a trade to improve their defense? Will it be a blockbuster or a minor trade? Share your thoughts below!