TORONTO — As David Bolland made his way home from Vancouver following surgery to repair a severed tendon on the outside of his left ankle, the Toronto Maple Leafs set about finding a way to replace the veteran centre. By all accounts, the leading candidate is James van Riemsdyk, who was moved to the middle in line rushes during Monday’s practice at the Air Canada Centre. He previously spent two years playing the position at the University of New Hampshire before jumping to the NHL.
The Leafs first toyed with the idea of having van Riemsdyk make the transition after they acquired him from Philadelphia in the summer of 2012. They even had the big winger sit through some video sessions at that time, but it never got any farther than that—at least until now. “I don’t think this was part of the master plan,” says van Riemsdyk. With centre Tyler Bozak out at least a couple more weeks because of a hamstring injury and Bolland sidelined “indefinitely”—read: a long time—there is a rather large hole in the middle of the team’s roster at the moment. If van Riemsdyk can adjust to a position he calls “completely different” during the next stretch of games, the Leafs might be able to get by with the current lineup. That would leave Nazem Kadri, Jay McClement and Trevor Smith centring the second, third and fourth lines.
Coincidentally, Smith was involved the last time van Riemsdyk moved to the middle. He left college and signed a free-agent deal with the New York Islanders in 2007, just as van Rimesdyk was arriving at UNH. That forced the Wildcats to shift him over. The transition went pretty smoothly—van Riemsdyk averaged more than a point per game in the NCAA—but it’s clear the 24-year-old is much more comfortable in the spot where he has spent his entire NHL career. On Monday, he referred to himself as a “natural winger.”
However, desperate times call for desperate measures, and Leafs coach Randy Carlyle made it clear that he views van Riemsdyk as the team’s top option. The coach plans to put him through some faceoff drills prior to Toronto’s next game against New Jersey Friday night. “He’s played there before so it doesn’t take rocket science to go in that direction,” says Carlyle. “We think he’s more of the fit right now and we’ll see what the next couple days (bring).”
Should the move not go well with JVR, here are a couple more options for the Leafs to consider:
The Marlies
For now, the cupboard is pretty bare. Jerred Smithson is the only experienced option with the—he’s currently in the American Hockey League on a professional tryout—but the 34-year-old has a pretty limited skillset. The veteran journeyman—he’s played in Los Angeles, Nashville, Florida and Edmonton—of 588 NHL games has career bests of nine goals and 16 points. The organization’s other centres are all just 21 years old and there’s no reason to believe that Greg McKegg, Sam Carrick or Andrew Crescenzi are ready to make the jump just yet.
A Trade
This is the most complicated option for a Toronto team that is actually sitting above the salary cap because of the number of players it currently has on long-term injured reserve. Basically, the Leafs would either have to unload salary as part of any trade, or acquire a player who could be demoted when Bozak and Bolland are healthy again. So while a few teams might be looking to unload a—you can bet the vultures are circling GM Dave Nonis—it’s hard to imagine any of them coming cheaply. The list of would-be free agent includes Steve Ott, Matt Stajan, Marcel Goc, Scott Gomez and John Mitchell should Nonis explore this route. More than likely, he’ll stand pat.
Phil Kessel
It was December 2010 and former Leafs coach Ron Wilson was desperate. The search for a centre to play with Phil Kessel was on in full force and, with no obvious choices left, Kessel took the job himself. The experiment lasted parts of three games—Toronto won two of them and Kessel went 15-24 in the faceoff circle—before he went back to his natural spot at right wing. “He’s actually pretty good on faceoffs,” Wilson said at the time.
A pretty strong case could be made for Kessel at centre now. He is no less experienced than van Riemsdyk, having played the position with the U.S. national development team prior to arriving in the NHL, and his two-way game seems to have improved in recent years. As arguably the fastest skater on the team, he wouldn’t have any trouble getting around the ice. It might be worth a shot—they could certainly do worse given what else might be available.