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Toronto Maple Leafs Rumors: van Riemsdyk Generating Calls

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 5:30 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Tim Chiasson/FanSided via Editor In Leaf

The Toronto Maple Leafs are starting to get calls about forward James van Riemsdyk.

According to Darren Dreger, the Toronto Maple Leafs received a call from a team on the big forward to find out if van Riemsdyk had them on his no-trade list, and they weren’t. (MyNHLTradeRumors)

As we get closer to the trade deadline teams are sure to come calling about James van Riemsdyk. I mean, why wouldn’t they? He’s a star winger on one of the most team-friendly contracts around right now.

The question is are the Leafs going to trade him before the end of the year?

The expansion draft has an impact on this decision, but it’s certainly not something the Leafs can’t get around if they do want to deal JVR.

Unless Toronto is going to keep JVR to make a run at the Stanley Cup next season then they’ll have to ship him out at some point. They simply can’t afford him on a long-term extension. If he wants to re-sign for one season while the kids play out the last year of their entry level deals, then welcome aboard, but that’s not likely.

Despite pushback from non-Leaf fanbases, James van Riemsdyk is worth a top four defender, and a good one – not a Cam Fowler.

This is the starting point for trade talks when it comes to van Riemsdyk, otherwise the Leafs can wait and trade him at next years deadline for a draft pick/prospects/whatever. There’s no need to rush a trade with the big forward, but there’s no need to completely dismiss one either.

There’s more value in James van Riemsdyk being traded than there is him being kept and extended when you look at who the Leafs will be paying in the next 2-3 years, and just how much those players are going to make.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to get offers and phone calls. Maybe one of them will lead to the Leafs solving a hole on defense.

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