Toronto Maple Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk had 18 points in his last 19 games during 2016-2017. He was in a groove and playing some of the best all-around hockey of his life.
The change in play by van Riemsdyk from 2014-2015 to 2015-2016 was pretty impressive. There wasn’t much that didn’t change in the positive for van Riemsdyk. As unfortunate as his injury was – as is any injury to a player – it certainly helped the Toronto Maple Leafs tank.
The most noticeable change for JVR was his most common forward partners. In 2014-2015 he spent the majority of his time with Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel.