The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded defenseman Luke Schenn to the Philadelphia Flyers for winger James van Riemsdyk.
- TSN:
“He will provide speed, size, and finesse to our top two lines and we know that he fits those needs that we have wanted to address for some time,” Burke said in a statement.
“It’s obviously a bit of a shock to get traded but Philadelphia is obviously a great organization and they’ve got a lot of great young talent there,” Schenn said on a conference call. “With my brother being there, we’re pretty close. It’s surreal. I can’t even believe it.”
- James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail: The deal has been discussed since wintertime according to Flyers GM Paul Holmgren.
“It came up again and we talked about it,” he said. “I believe it’s a good trade for both teams. It certainly fills a need for us and I think it fills a need for Brian’s team as well in terms of what they’re looking to do.”
“I’ve told you enough about how strongly I feel about James becoming a good player, and I believe he will become a very good player in our league,” Holmgren said. “Unfortunately for us, I think it’s going to be for Toronto now. The guy we got coming back is going to fill needs on our team and is going to be a good young player on our team. So I think it’s a win-win.”
Luke Schenn
James van Riemsdyk