Last minute James Van Riemsdyk trade falls through at the TDL
With most of the league's biggest trades happening over the course of the last week, as of today's trade deadline, the biggest remaining name was arguably James Van Riemsdyk. What ended up happening was one of the more strange events in recent deadline history, as a trade sending JVR to the Red Wings was cancelled.
When the trade was reported, it was of note that Elliotte Friedman said it was pending a physical evaluation of JVR's health. While at the time there's no indication that an injury was the reason the trade didn't happen, it's notable this clause was reported.
Less than ten minutes after the trade was reported, new reports emerged of the trade being cancelled.
Later explained by Chris Johnston on TSN's Tradecenter broadcast, this deal was contingent on Detroit moving another player in another deal that never came to fruition.
Regardless, JVR never made sense as a fight in Detroit, being an aging veteran scorer joining a rebuilding team. It's possible that the Red Wings were going to retain salary as a third party broker to send JVR to a contender, but at this point, we may never know what truly happened. In the end, the biggest disappointment is for JVR himself having to finish out the season, and potentially his career, with a basement Flyer's team.
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