On the Toronto Maple Leafs …
James Mirtle of The Athletic: Only seven wingers have score more goals than James van Riemsdyk since the Maple Leafs acquired the left winger in 2012.
So why would the Leafs want to trade van Riemsdyk?
“You can’t keep everyone in the NHL anymore. You can’t have everything.”
The Leafs have a collection of talent rookies that in a couple years are going to need new contracts and the Leafs “can’t box themselves in with big contracts that would force them to ship young talent out.”
van Riemsdyk will be a free agent after next season and will be 29 years old. He’ll likely be looking to get somewhere around the $7 million mark on a new contract. He’s not a franchise type guy, but a great, complementary offensive player.
What contender wouldn’t want a 30 goal scorer who carries a $4.25 million cap hit? His trade value is higher this year compared to next year.
Trading van Riemsdyk for a high-end defenseman or Grade A prospect would make sense.
Making some predictions for 2017 …
Kevin Allen of USA Today: John Tavares will go through the same thing Steven Stamkos did last year with regards to free agency. Every team that was interested in Stamkos will likely be interested in Tavares. Salary speculation will be in the $10.5 million range.
Mathieu Perreault, Dmitry Orlov and Jonas Brodin will be with the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Vancouver Canucks will enter a full rebuild. In the offseason, they could be able to trade both Henrik and Daniel Sedin to the same team.
The New York Rangers will trade Derek Stepan for a defenseman. Stepan’s no-trade clause kicks in next year.
The Blackhawks will sign Artemi Panarin $7 million a season.
The Dallas Stars will trade for a goalie. If they can’t get Ben Bishop, they could look at Michal Neuvirth or Thomas Greiss.
27-year old Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk will be the top free agent and will have plenty of teams interested including the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning.