JVR : "A Lot of Great Memories' as a Flyer

Impending unrestricted free agent left winger James van Riemsdyk will celebrate his 34th birthday on May 4. After two stints as a Flyer spanning a total of eight seasons, the Middletown, New Jersey native is likely to sign elsewhere this summer. He'll depart with the 31st most games played (527) and 23rd most goals scored (146 of his career 300 goals) in franchise history.

During Exit Day on April 14 and the April 26 edition of the Flyers Daily podcast, van Riemsdyk reflected on his years as a Flyer.
The team did not enjoy nearly as much on-ice success in his second stint (2018-19 through 2022-23) as it did in the first three years of van Riemsdyk's NHL career. After he was selected by the Flyers with the second overall pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, the player experienced two seasons of collegiate hockey at the University of New Hampshire.When van Riemsdyk turned pro, the Flyers reached the Stanley Cup Final in his rookie year. The team posted 106 points amid JVR's first career 20-goal season in 2010-11. In 2011-12, before he was traded in the off-season to the Toronto Maples for Luke Schenn, van Riemsdyk was part of a club that posted 103 regular season points and then upset the archrival Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal.
Speaking to the the assembled media on Exit Day and to host Jason Myrtetus on Flyers Daily, van Riemsdyk looks back fondly at those early years.
"A lot of great memories. Definitely some early ones I remember. You could look at the Cup run, that was a pretty special time. We were so close. And then just, especially early on I think just a lot of how I was treated by some of the older players was pretty cool. I remember just being here for some of the summers training before the year and especially right before my rookie year where guys like - I remember Jeff Carter would take me out for dinner all the time and to baseball games and stuff like that. And then guys like Prongs [Chrs Pronger] and Danny [Briere] were really great with me, and Scotty Hartnell - the list goes on and on," van Riemsdyk said.
"Obviously on the ice that Cup run that we had was great, but off the ice a lot of great memories, especially early on. There's been, I feel, like lots of great groups of guys that I have been able to play with over my time here. So those definitely stand out, just because when you're younger and you're kind of impressionable, I think it really sets the stage for you for the rest of your career when you're around good people and good players. Looking back, I think that definitely helped set me up on a stage to know what it takes to try to be a productive, successful player."
When a 29-year-oold van Riemsdyk returned to the Flyers at age in the summer of 2018, the club was coming off a 98-point season and a six-game playoff series with Pittsburgh that entered the third period of Game 6 with the score tied before the Penguins went on to close out the series. For his part, as he became a first-time unrestricted free agent, JVR was coming off a career-best 36 goals in 2017-18.
Hoping that the Flyers were on the brink of a breakthrough back to contender status and that he could bolster his original club offensively, van Riemsdyk signed a five-year contract. He had good individual seasons in 2018-19 (27 goals, 48 points despite missing 16 games due to injury) and Covid-shortened 2020-21 campaign (43 points in 56 games).
The team as a whole had a strong 2019-20 season, although it was a bit of a down year for the player himself. The Flyers were only one point behind the Washington Capitals for first place in the Metro Division at the time the COVID-19 pandemic forced a stoppage (and ultimately the cancelation of the rest) of the regular season. Playing in the "bubble" in Toronto, the Flyers fell one win short of reaching the Eastern Conference Final. JVR never untracked in the bubble and was scratched several times by then head coach Alain Vigneault.
Overall, the Flyers failed to qualify for the playoffs in four of the last five seasons, including each of the last three seasons. JVR did not hide his overall disappointment in the team's plight compared to the expectations at the time of his arrival. Individually, in 2022-23, he dealt with late October surgery to repair a broken finger and reduced usage after the All-Star break. The Flyers were unable to trade JVR as a rental player before the NHL trade deadline, which resulted in a potentially awkward situation that the veteran handled with grace and professionalism.
JVR did not pretend that, on the whole, the last five seasons lived up to his own hopes and expectations held at the time of his 2018. At the same time, the player forged new friendships that he'll take with him long beyond his playing days. Additionally, the last five years have been exciting and rewarding ones off the ice. In that span, James married his longtime girlfriend, Lauren, in 2019. Since then, the couple has had two children, daughter Scarlett (born in May 2020) and son Liam (January 2022). They've also built a permanent home in Minnesota, near Lauren's family.
These were all life-changing experiences. JVR said that, ultimately, he'll look back at his second tenure with the Flyers as a time of personal growth and discovery. Things didn't go as planned on the ice, but there were good things along the way, too.
"Coming back here, I had a lot of pride of being a Flyer the first time, and I think part of the reason why I came back here was ultimately having a bitter - not a bitter taste, but wanting to really - I was drafted here and wanted to try to be part of a solution going forward to win and things like that. I came here with the best of intentions and approached it the best way I could as far as trying to be the best player I could to help the team win games," van Riemsdyk said on Exit Day.
"Looking back, it was lots of different things that happened between COVID, coaching changes, GM changes, different guys, kind of pillars that have been here coming and going. I added a couple of kids to my family, things like that. So definitely a lot to unpack there, but everything happens for a reason. I just try to enjoy each part and keep things in perspective, whether good or bad. I think just kind of helps you try to have that appreciation for things, especially when things aren't going as well. It definitely makes you appreciate things when they are going a little bit better. I think everything's sort of a learning experience and I had a chance to grow and things like that, so I think that's kind of the way I try to look at it when things maybe go a little sideways sometimes."
Over the course of his second stint in Philadelphia, van Riemsdyk forged an especially close friendship with Scott Laughton.
."He's going to be a lifelong friend. One of my closest friends. I still remember before free agency, I was up - didn't know him at all then - but I was up there with Connor Brown and a few of their other buddies playing on a softball team with them right before free agency starts, and we were just chatting with him a little bit. Just about what it's like with the Flyers and things like that at that point since I had left. I've gotten really close with him, and it's been a lot of fun playing with him. Like I said, we'll have a lifelong friendship and have had a lot of good times over these last five years."
During his second go-around with the Flyers, JVR increasingly focused on helping to mentor young teammates. After his return from surgery this past season, JVR spent approximately the next weeks on a regular line with right winger Owen Tippett and Morgan Frost. Both players were quick to credit and thank van Riemsdyk for being a strong communicator and supportive veteran teammate on their respective paths to individual breakthrough seasons in 2022-23.
" I think for both those guys, obviously they've got the pedigree there. They're both first round picks, huge talents. I think they really got a chance, as far as opportunity wise, to play a little bit more and have that opportunity to get a little more leash, where you were you get thrown back out there a little bit more, and I think they just took it and ran with it. They were fun. We had a lot of success playing together as a line, especially during that stretch that you mentioned. It was fun to play with those guys, and to see the growth in their game and things like that. It'll be fun to watch those guys going forward to see what they can do," van Riemsdyk said.
Over the last five years, the Flyers' outlook has gone from that of a team that expected to be exiting a farm-system restocking period while being a playoff bubble team to a club that's currently in a deeper-reaching rebuild mode. Although van Riemsdyk would have scripted the time period differently if he could, he will depart with more good memories than bad.
"It was a transitional year for the organization. To be a part of that, and obviously, you want to prepare yourself the best way that you can and approach it like you do. Again, I think you have to have that no matter what the situation is - what situation, what things are going on around you. I think you have to have that approach to try to play along. To play here for as many years as I have, for as many games as I have, I definitely take a lot of pride in that, and I'll always look back on that fondly."