On June 23 2011, Philadelphia Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren shook up the hockey world and the face of the Flyers organization by trading then-captain Mike Richards and running mate Jeff Carter.

At the time there were a myriad of rumors regarding locker room and potential off ice issues which led to these changes. In addition to that the emergence of young guns Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk (JVR) was said to be a major factor in Holmgren’s confidence to move on from the enigmatic Richards-and-Carter duo.  Giroux was coming off of his best season as a professional with 76 points; and JVR enjoyed his first 20-goal season. JVR was also fresh off of a seven-goal playoff run where he dominated stretches of games against the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. While Holmgren’s decision to go in an entirely new direction appears to have paid off for the Flyers, JVR has had little impact on the surge of this team. When the entire dynamic of the roster is examined, it may, in fact, be JVR who holds the key in the organization’s next step toward building a Cup winner as a chip to cash in the NHL’s trade market.

In what was supposed to be a breakout year for JVR in 2011-2012, the puck simply hasn’t bounced his way.  11 goals and 22 points in 37 games are solid numbers, but far from that of a dominant young power forward. When looking beyond the numbers, JVR’s season has been a disappointment.  Inconsistent play and injuries have plagued JVR’s campaign. While that is certainly going to be taken into account in deciding whether or not to trade him, there are three completely unrelated factors to support trading JVR being the best direction for the organization moving forward.

The first factor is that other young forwards have emerged. Giroux continues his development.  Coming off a 76-point season, he is currently on pace around 100 points; and has firmly cemented himself as one of the elite players in the NHL. Wayne Simmonds, acquired in the Richards trade to the Los Angeles Kings, currently has 16 goals in 51 games; and is on pace to better his previous career highs of 16 goals and 40 points.  Acquired in the Carter deal from Columbus, former top 10 pick Jakub Voracek has also fit in nicely with the Flyers, currently sitting at 30 points in 51 games.  Maybe the biggest surprise for the Flyers this season has been the success from undrafted rookie Matt Read, who won a spot in training camp and has responded with 16 goals and 32 points thus far.  Then, of course, there are the ultra-young Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier (ages 19 and 20, respectively) who have shown signs of being excellent NHL players in the not-too-distant future.  The bottom line is that the Flyers are flat-out loaded with young talent at the forward position even if JVR were taken out of the equation.

While the Flyers boast a tremendous group of young forwards, the same cannot be said for their defense.  Moving forward, the Flyers have a number of ‘question marks’ about their defense that will need to be answered in the coming weeks and months.  The biggest and most obvious question revolves around the 37-year-old, future Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Pronger.  Pronger has not played since late November 2011 due to post-concussion syndrome, that also led to the Flyers making the difficult decision to shut down Pronger for the entire season on December 15.  Whether or not Pronger ever plays in the NHL again is a legitimate question. After Pronger, the Flyers’ defensive depth chart is held down by Kimmo Timonen who, at almost 37 years old, is enjoying quite possibly his best season as a Flyer.  However, Timonen only has one year remaining on his deal; and it remains to be seen whether the Finnish great plans to continue to his NHL career beyond 2013 and how effective he would be at 38 years old.

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Tags: Flyers, JVR, trade