Flyers GM couldn't find trade for JVR: 'The market spoke'

The Philadelphia Flyers were responsible for one of the most head-scratching moves - or lack thereof - of the trade deadline by hanging on to pending unrestricted free agent James van Riemsdyk.

The Flyers were obvious sellers but weren't able to facilitate a trade for the seven-time 20-goal scorer. General manager Chuck Fletcher said there were no firm buyers for van Riemsdyk.

"The market spoke," Fletcher told reporters after the deadline.

There were rumors that the Flyers were sending van Riemsdyk to the Detroit Red Wings, but a trade apparently fell through.

"I didn't have any offers until about 1:40 (p.m.)," Fletcher said. "I got a call from a team and they had a concept that if they were able to move a forward off their team, then they'd have interest in acquiring JVR.

"We talked about the parameters and what the deal would look like. It made sense from that standpoint, but all along it was conditional on the other trade going through, and eventually the other trade fell through (about 25 minutes before the deadline)."

Fletcher added that he had been speaking to teams for three weeks about van Riemsdyk leading up to the deadline.

Part of the issue was van Riemsdyk's $7-million cap hit. Fletcher said they were willing to retain 50% of it and take back an expiring contract, but they still couldn't get a deal done.

Van Riemsdyk, 33, has tallied nine goals and 14 assists in 41 games this season. He's added 20 goals and 11 helpers in 71 career postseason contests.

The Flyers did make two trades on the day. They shipped Patrick Brown to the Ottawa Senators for a sixth-round pick, and dealt Zack MacEwen to the Los Angeles Kings for Brendan Lemieux and a fifth-rounder.

Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.