Van Riemsdyk reunited with familiar faces on Hurricanes

EDINA, Minn. -- Defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk had a hunch when the Vegas Golden Knights selected him in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft that there was a possibility he wasn't going to stay with them for long.
"I think when you see [a team] takes that many defensemen, you know they're going to probably make a trade," van Riemsdyk said. "With that many [defenseman selected], they're going to find the best value they can, and that means most are going to get traded. I ended up being one of them."

Less than 24 hours later, the Golden Knights traded van Riemsdyk to the Carolina Hurricanes for a second-round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft (Vegas selected Jake Leschyshyn at No. 62). Along with van Riemsdyk, Vegas also traded a seventh-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft.
The move to Carolina reunites the 25-year-old, who made his NHL debut with the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 9, 2014, with three other former Blackhawks: goaltender Scott Darling and forwards Teuvo Teravainen and Joakim Nordstrom. Van Riemsdyk will play with defenseman Brett Pesce, a former teammate at the University of New Hampshire.

"I was roommates on the road with Teuvo my first year, and I was roommates in college with Brett; he was an awesome guy to play with in college and it'll be fun to be on his team again," van Riemsdyk said. "Knowing a lot of the guys will make it a fun experience."
Van Riemsdyk played his entire NHL career in Chicago. He has 31 points (eight goals, 23 assists) in 158 games and has averaged at least 18:25 of ice time per game the past two seasons.
"I loved my time in Chicago," van Riemsdyk said. "It was three great years. They gave me a chance early on. We won the [Stanley] Cup in 2015 and I got to be a small part of that, so I had an amazing time in Chicago but now I'm really looking forward to Carolina.
"It's a different setup than how it was in Chicago. [There] you have all those guys with long resumes of the things they've done, and the Carolina guys they've got a bunch of really good young guys in Pesce, [defensemen Justin Faulk, Jaccob Slavin, Noah Hanifin], and on and on, so it'll be a fun group to join and I can't wait to get out there."
The Hurricanes signed Slavin to a seven-year, $37.1 million contract extension Wednesday, worth an average annual value of $5.3 million starting in 2018-19. Faulk has three years remaining on his contract with an AAV of $4.833 million. Van Riemsdyk, Hanifin and Pesce are eligible for an extension and each can become a restricted free agent after this season.