Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk out long-term following surgery

The Philadelphia Flyers have announced that veteran forward James van Riemsdyk will be out of the lineup long-term after having surgery on a broken finger later this week

From Flyers insider Bill Meltzer:

Flyers head coach John Tortorella did not offer up a timeline for van Riemsdyk's return to the lineup, but did say that the injury will not be season ending.

The 33 year old forward has been stellar for a surprising Flyers squad this season, putting up two goals and five points in six games to start the campaign. He managed 24 goals last season and proved that he's still got some gas left in the tank and, to me, he's the kind of player who was poised to put up some good numbers under new Flyers head coach John Tortorella. It's no secret that Torts loves to lean on veteran players and JVR is as veteran as they come in the Flyers' lineup.

Selected 2nd overall by the Flyers back in 2007, van Riemsdyk played parts of just three seasons with the Flyers before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for another struggling top pick Luke Schenn. While Schenn never really fit into the Flyers' plans, JVR had six solid seasons with an underperforming team in Toronto. He put up a career high 62 points in 82 games with the Leafs back in 2016-17. Once he became a free agent in 2018, he immediately bolted back to Philly signing a five year, $35 million deal worth $7 million per season on the opening day of free agency.

He's put up some solid play back with the Flyers, but with his contract expiring at the end of this season and with many predicting that the Flyers would be a basement dwelling team, there were talks that he'd be moved at some point to secure some future assets. Now, things may ultimately play out that way, but if this team can keep winning while van Riemsdyk is on the shelf with injury, then who knows what his future holds? Maybe he'll even re-sign in Philly this upcoming season in an effort to see things through properly.