The Detroit Red Wings signed veteran left-winger James van Riemsdyk to a one-year, $1 million contract. van Riemsdyk is 36 years old and is coming off a season where he scored 16 goals and added 20 assists in 71 games played for the Philadelphia Flyers. At only $1 million, van Riemsdyk adds grit to the Red Wings’ bottom six.
At the end of the 2024-25 season new head coach of the Red Wings Todd McLellan was quoted as saying that the Red Wings “pissed away points” towards the end of the season. The addition of van Riemsdyk will add mentorship to the Red Wings’ room. This will be the seventh different team that van Riemsdyk has played for. This move is expected after the Red Wings traded Vladimir Tarasenko to the Minnesota Wild yesterday for future considerations. The Tarasenko signing was one that general manager Steve Yzerman would like to have back.
The Red Wings needed to get tougher to play against, and this is something that van Riemsdyk provides. In his prime, van Riemsdyk was one of the better net-front presences in the NHL. van Riemsdyk was selected second overall in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, just after Patrick Kane, with whom he will now be teammates.
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