Former Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill thought so highly of James van Riemsdyk’s net-front play that he had Anthony Mantha watch some clips hoping he’d learn from it.
That didn’t work. But now the Red Wings can benefit from van Riemsdyk’s ability to screen goaltenders, tip pucks and wreak havoc around the crease after signing him Tuesday to a one-year, $1 million deal.
The 16-year NHL veteran showed last season in Columbus he can still provide some secondary scoring with 16 goals and 36 points in 71 games. At 6-3 and 209 pounds, he’ll fill an important net-front role, particularly on the power play. It’s an area that’s been lacking for the Red Wings.
“Blash might have actually mentioned that to me at one point, I think at the Worlds one year,” van Riemsdyk said. “That’s a nice compliment to get from him. It’s just a part of the game. I feel like the more I’ve done it, the more natural it seems to become. And especially down the stretch and into the playoffs, it seems like that’s where you need to go to have success and score goals. I think that’s ultimately why it’s for me such just an attractive place to be on the ice.”
But, he added, “You don’t just want to be anchored at the net and let the other guys kind of play on the cycle and you’re not being an option for them. It’s trying to balance some of those things out.”
Van Riemsdyk, 36, looks forward to being reunited in a way with Patrick Kane. They were the top two picks in the 2007 draft, Kane to Chicago and van Riemsdyk to Philadelphia.
“He’s one of my really good buddies and we’ve been kind of through this whole journey over the years together in a lot of ways through some different USA Hockey things and with training or bouncing ideas off each other,” van Riemsdyk said.
“I think there was one game last year at Columbus where we had a couple of points … I think he said something to me on one of the faceoffs like, ‘We still got it.’ Just the love that he has for the game, it’s fun to kind of be around and be in kind of his orbit for some of that.”
Van Riemsdyk has multiple ties with the Red Wings. He was skating with Justin Holl Tuesday in Minnesota when he accepted their offer. He also knows Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat and some others.
He also is quite familiar with recent Red Wings history having played for the U.S. National Team Development program from 2005-2007, near the end of Tomas Holmstrom’s career as the preeminent net-front man in the game.
“When I came into the league, that was kind of the heyday of the Red Wings … (Holmstrom) was definitely a guy over the years that I watched,” van Riemsdyk said. “Kind of how he went about what he did in his craft and tried to pull some different things from him.”
The Red Wings nearly acquired van Riemsdyk from the Flyers at the 2023 trade deadline, but the deal fell through. He’s happy they continued their pursuit this summer. In addition to net-front play and secondary scoring, he’ll provide leadership.
“I think my greatest strength is probably my hockey IQ and hockey sense,” van Riemsdyk said. “Just knowing how to play the game, knowing how to manage a game, being able to fit in with kind of different styles of players and different roles.”
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