James van Riemsdyk will return to Philadelphia with a five-year, $ 35 million contract.
James van Riemsdyk returns to familiar territory.
The far left signed with the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday, signing a five-year contract worth $ 35 million, which will have a $ 7 million hit against the salary cap through the 2022-23 season.
"I could not be more excited to return to Philadelphia," said van Riemsdyk about the franchise that selected him with the second pick in the 2007 draft. "They have a great thing in place and I'm happy to be part of that. now and I'm looking forward to the ice. "
Van Riemsdyk was traded to the Leafs in 2012 in exchange for defender Luke Schenn and led the Maple Leafs in goals last season with a career high of 36. He finishes his term in Toronto with 294 points in 413 games of regular season.
While the Maple Leafs had their eyes fixed on the hitch of John Tavares, van Riemsdyk said he had several suitors interested in him before the opening of free agency. His conversation with the general manager of the Flyers, Ron Hextall, mixed with the moves that Philadelphia made, is what convinced him to return, he told NHL Network.
After spending the first three seasons of his career with the Flyers, during which he scored 99 points in 196 regular sesaon games, the 29-year-old winger will return to some familiar faces. Jakub Vorachek and Claude Giroux were on the team before going to Toronto, this last potential partner of van Riemsdyk.
"We needed a left end, particularly in our top 6." Hextall said . "I do not know if [Claude] Giroux plays the left side … I suspect it will start there, but we have many options and this gives us a true left end that is a good presence on the net front, a great body with soft hands, so we really value what James is going to bring us in the next five years. "
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