Update:  Sam Carchidi of Broad Street Bull suggests the 22-year-old winger “isn’t going anywhere, at least for now”. An official with the Philadelphia Flyers reportedly denied word that van Riemsdyk was Toronto bound in exchange for defenseman Luke Schenn.

“Not happening,” the official said.

Carchidi adds that if the Flyers do make a deal for a blue-liner, it won’t go down until much nearer the February 27th trade deadline. The club has a lot of interest in potential restricted free agent Ryan Suter of the Nashville Predators. But for several years not as a “rental”.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have an active interest in forward James van Riemsdyk of the Philadelphia Flyers. And the Leafs general manager may be willing to move a former “untouchable” defenseman Luke Schenn to get him.

Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun says ”Just 22, van Riemsdyk has plenty of upside and has played in 32 Stanley Cup playoff games. Brian Burke wants to get bigger at forward and van Riemsdyk is 6-feet-3 and 200 pounds,  and adds post-season experience.”

Van Riemsdyk carries an annual salary cap hit of $4.25 million until 2018. Schenn is the brother of Philly center Brayden Schenn is locked in until 2016 at an average annual salary of $3.6 million.

ESPN.com’s Pierre LeBrun reports there’s merit to this speculation, but Schenn isn’t the only defenseman the Flyers fancy.

“I can confirm reports that Philadelphia and Toronto have chatted over the past week. The Leafs have long coveted winger James van Riemsdyk. Sources on both teams, however, told ESPN.com Thursday that nothing was close to imminent on any deal. The Flyers’ top priority is to get help on defense, and it just so happens that’s where Toronto has extra bodies. Still, as I reported earlier this week, Philly’s top name on its shopping list is Ryan Suter. Tim Gleason of the Hurricanes also interests the Flyers.”


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