The Stats:
Regular Season
Playoffs
The Charts:
The Key Stat: Trevor van Riemsdyk’s CF% at five on five was 52.49, the best among all Washington blueliners.
The Good: van Riemsdyk did not see a ton of ice time this season — he dressed for just 20 of Washington’s 56 games and averaged 17:05 minutes per game — but he made an impact whenever he was in the lineup. He played particularly well with Brenden Dillon, with whom he spent most of his time skating. It is no secret that Dillon had an up and down season, but he seemed to steady with van Riemsdyk on his right. TvR is certainly more defensive-minded than Dillon, which balanced him out well and made for a solid pairing. The duo recorded a CF% of 51.45 through 235:28 of ice time together; without van Riemsdyk, however, Dillon’s CF% dropped to 45.97. Is van Rismedyk…the Brenden Dillon Whisperer™?
Being the “extra defenseman” for an NHL team is difficult for many reasons, including needing to maintain an NHL level of play despite not seeing consistent NHL ice time. TvR had two stretches this season in which he went about a month between games, and the expectation that a player will jump into a lineup at NHL speed can be stressful. van Riemsdyk seemed to handle this irregular schedule well this season, which is an excellent sign of his dedication to the game and the team.
The Bad: It’s hard to say if Peter Laviolette and the Caps got a complete idea of what van Riemsdyk could do on Washington’s blueline this season because he got far less ice time. His numbers were solid, but 20 games is a relatively small sample size. GMBM and the organization clearly liked what they saw enough back in March to sign him to a two-year, $1.9mil contract extension after he had played just nine games for Washington. However, while the contract is relatively inexpensive and could be a low-risk, high-reward opportunity for Washington, a low-reward result would be a tough pill to swallow for such a cap-strapped team with an already bustling blueline.
The Video:
The Discussion: From what you saw of him this season, do you think van Riemsdyk fits into Washington’s system well? Does he deserve a more permanent spot in the lineup? Who would you like to see TvR play with next season? Do you think he’s on the trading block? Finally, what would it take for you to give van Riemsdyk a 10 next season?
The Vote: Rate Trevor van Riemsdyk below on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) based on his performance relative to his potential and your expectations for the season – if he had the best year you could have imagined him having, give him a 10; if he more or less played as you expected he would, give him a 5 or a 6; if he had the worst year you could have imagined him having, give him a 1.