Former Leaf believes Brad Treliving should bring James Van Riemsdyk back to Toronto

Former Leafs defenseman turned NHL analyst Frank Corrado shared his thoughts on James Van Riemsdyk recently, noting that Brad Treliving and the Toronto Maple Leafs should make an effort to sign him.

Corrado acknowledged the fact that JVR is not the player he used to be. Should Brad Treliving sign him, he certainly will not be expecting him to put up a 50 or 60 point season like he did last time he played for the Leafs. Similarly, he will not be expected to play a top-six role. This is actually a good thing though, as the Leafs, like many teams around the NHL, are always looking to add reliable depth scoring.

At this point in his career, JVR is certainly a depth forward. With that being said though, he is actually still quite efficient at scoring, even in a smaller role. Last season with the Boston Bruins he played the lowest average ice-time per game of his career since his rookie season and still managed to put up 11 goals and 38 points. Plus he had a career-low shooting percentage last season, which would not be expected to happen again, even though he has gotten another year older.

Of course, the area where the Leafs need the most help is in the playoffs. Every year the team fails to meet expectations as the scoring in the first round round drops off from their depth players. In fact, the issue has been so bad, that Van Riemsdyk is actually 6th among Leafs forwards since 2016 in playoff goals despite the fact that he has not played for the team in each of the past six seasons. That is a shocking indictment of the Leafs depth in recent years.

So perhaps Corrado has a good point. JVR is 35 years old at this point in his career, but the younger guys have not proven to be capable of stepping up in big moments. Perhaps another veteran presence in the locker room can help with that, especially if he is able to lead by example by scoring in the first round next year. As he said, even a single goal over the course of a seven-game series can prove to be decisive. After all, the Leafs lost game seven last year by a single goal.

Van Riemsdyk has played in 1011 career regular-season NHL games. He has 311 goals and 629 points to show for it. 294 of those points came during his six-season run with the Leafs from 2012 to 2018. He also has 21 career playoff goals and 36 points, including 7 goals and 14 points in 20 games for the Leafs.

Source: Heavy.comAnalyst Urges Maple Leafs to Sign 1000 Game Veteran Forward

Source: HockeyReferenceJames Van Riemsdyk career statistics

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