James van Riemsdyk

James van Riemsdyk
Van Riemsdyk with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2012
Born	(1989-05-04) May 4, 1989 (age 35) Middletown Township, New Jersey, U.S.
Height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight	217 lb (98 kg; 15 st 7 lb)
Position	Left wing
Shoots	Left
NHL team Former teams	Free Agent Philadelphia Flyers Toronto Maple Leafs Boston Bruins
National team	United States
NHL draft	2nd overall, 2007 Philadelphia Flyers
Playing career	2009–present

James van Riemsdyk (/væn ˈriːmzdaɪk/ van REEMZ-dighk;^[1] born May 4, 1989), often known by his initials JVR, is an American professional ice hockey left winger who is currently a Free Agent of the National Hockey League (NHL). Between 2012 and 2018, he played in the NHL for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and he played with the Philadelphia Flyers until 2023.

Van Riemsdyk was born in Middletown, New Jersey, and played minor ice hockey with local clubs through his childhood. As an adolescent, he left Christian Brothers Academy in New Jersey to move to Ann Arbor, Michigan and play with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program. There, he befriended Patrick Kane, and the pair would go on to be drafted first and second overall in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. Rather than start playing with the Flyers at once, van Riemsdyk played college ice hockey for the University of New Hampshire for two seasons. After leading the team in scoring as a sophomore, he forfeited his final two years of college hockey and signed an entry-level contract with the Flyers, including a tryout contract with the Philadelphia Phantoms. Van Riemsdyk made his NHL debut in 2009, and turned a pair of strong playoff performances for the Flyers before a series of injuries kept him sidelined for most of the 2011–12 season.

During the 2012 offseason, the Flyers traded van Riemsdyk to the Maple Leafs in exchange for defenseman Luke Schenn. He was called up to the top line that fall to replace an injured Joffrey Lupul, but remained there alongside Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel through the 2014–15 NHL season. When Mike Babcock took over as head coach, he paired van Riemsdyk with two-way forwards Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov, and van Riemsdyk was on track for a career season when a foot fracture shut him down in January. The next two seasons, van Riemsdyk set a personal record first in single-season point totals and then in single-season goals. He also reached a number of milestones, including his 200th career NHL goal and the 20,000th goal in Maple Leafs history.

Van Riemsdyk became a free agent after the 2017–18 season, and he signed a five-year contract with the Flyers that July. In his first season back, van Riemsdyk was sidelined for 16 games with a lower-body injury, but he returned for 27 goals, including a pair of hat-tricks. The following two seasons were a series of goal droughts followed by hot streaks. In February 2021, van Riemsdyk scored his 500th career NHL point. In addition to his NHL career, van Riemsdyk has represented the United States at a number of international tournaments, including the 2014 Winter Olympics.