Who is JVR?

A lot of Flyers have stepped up this season.  Jagr has turned back the clock, Read and Couturier have turned a lot heads, and Giroux has raised his game to be among the league's best.  A player who has not grabbed many people's attention is Van Riemsdyk.

Fair or not, Flyers fans have always saddled JVR with high hopes.  This originally sprang from nothing more than his draft position.  He has the unfortunate distinction of being the only very high pick the Flyers were awarded based on a bad season in a long time, and through cruel luck, the Flyers picked second despite having the worst record in the league. In the eyes of many fans he is always going to be judged against subjective judgments on what a #2 pick is "supposed to" be.  Admittedly, he comes in the midst of a string of fantastic players that have emerged from that draft slot.
2000 - Dany Heatley
2001 - Jason Spezza
2002 - Kari Lehtonen
2003 - Eric Staal
2004 - Evgeni Malkin
2005 - Bobby Ryan
2006 - Jordan Staal
2007 - James Van Riemsdyk
2008 - Drew Doughty
2009 - Victor Hedman
Of course the 1990s draft gave us gems such as Pat Falloon, Andrei Zyuzin and David Legwand from the two slot.  It's also entirely irrelevant.  The Flyers could only draft players who were available in that particular draft, and it's not JVR's fault that there was no else better that year.

The full 2007 draft top-10;
1 - Patrick Kane
2 - JVR
3 - Kyle Turris
4 - Thomas Hickey
5 - Karl Alzner
6 - Sam Gagner
7 - Jakub Voracek
8 - Zach Hamill
9 - Logan Couture
10 - Keaton Ellerby
A few quality players in there, but it's not like there was a big star that is looming over JVR that the Flyers could've taken.  It simple wasn't a good draft, which was just plain old bad luck for the Flyers.


Now he's got his shiny new $4.25x6 contract (that kicks in after this season), which means he will soon be paid like the go-to goal scorer he appeared to be in the playoffs.  The Flyers took a chance with that contract based on very limited periods of dominant play, so has he played that way this season?  8g and 8a in 19 games is not bad at all.  That pace equals about 34g and 34a for the season--a line people should be satisfied with from a guy whose career highs are 21g 19a.

The thing is, that current stat line flatters in his current play in my opinion.  Many nights he is not very noticeable, and has been a complementary player to linemates that are making more happen.  Also, he did not look good with Jagr and Giroux.  Fans do not want to give Hartnell any credit and insist he's just an overpaid warm body for Giroux and Jagr, but the fact is Hartnell has been a very effective nuisance on that line.  JVR really did very little on that line.  This is also ironic because Hartnell's "overpriced" contract that is winding down is nearly identical to JVR's new contract (Hartnell-$4.2x6, JVR-$4.25x6).

Perhaps Laviolette can deploy him better.  I, for one, don't like JVR at the point on the power play at all.  He looks like an elite player when he is carrying the puck to the net, using his skating, stickhandling and big body in a combination that few NHL players have.  He isn't going to excel dishing or slapping it from the perimeter.

On the bright side, last night was maybe his best game of the season.  He used his size to protect the puck while skating around the outside.  This was his key to success last year, particularly in the playoffs.  If JVR hits 30 goals this year I will declare it a successful season for him and on track to earn his new contract, but the challenge for him will be consistency.  He's been prone to lulls, though this is not uncommon for young players.  If he keeps his play simple and focuses on what he does best, I think it will work out for him.