COLUMBUS, Ohio — James van Riemsdyk has been around long enough to understand the situation. But that doesn’t mean the Columbus Blue Jackets’ 35-year-old winger has to like it.
Not only did the Blue Jackets add two veteran forwards at the NHL trade deadline, they’re healthier than they’ve been all season. It’s so crowded in the dressing room that defenseman Jordan Harris and forward Jack Williams are dressing in temporary stalls.
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And if you think the room is crowded, you should see coach Dean Evason’s lineup card.
That’s how van Riemsdyk has become the odd man out, drawing a healthy scratch in the last two games and possibly a third when the Blue Jackets host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday in Nationwide Arena. After Monday’s practice, Evason said he was still deciding on a lineup.
“(A decision regarding van Riemsdyk) is one of the biggest parts of our (coaches’ meetings) right now,” Evason said. “It consumes a lot of our time. They’re all hard because everybody wants to play and honestly, we don’t think we’ve had anyone who has played poorly or poor enough to not be in our lineup. I’ll be honest with you: Do we know we’re making the right decision? No. But you’ve got to make a decision, and so we did.”
Evason’s candor is refreshing. But he’s right. The decision to make van Riemsdyk a healthy scratch does raise some eyebrows, especially with the upstart Blue Jackets lurking just 2 points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a game in hand.
“You want to play,” van Riemsdyk told The Athletic on Monday. “These are the most fun games to play, so of course you want to be playing. Over the course of this season, I think I’ve performed fairly well and done the things I want to be doing. I think I bring value when I’m in there.
“Ultimately, we don’t make those decisions as players. That doesn’t make it easier, but you do realize that you’re not in control of it. It still sucks.”
James van Riemsdyk – Columbus Blue Jackets (6) pic.twitter.com/kx8dixcSlo
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) January 3, 2025
Van Riemsdyk has 14-16-30 in 63 games, his highest goal total in three seasons. But those numbers look more impressive when presented with context.
Among players with 14 or more goals, only Ottawa’s Adam Gaudette (10:16) and Edmonton’s Corey Perry (11:42) have drawn less ice time than van Riemsdyk (12:20). Among players with 30 or more points this season, only one — Carolina’s Eric Robinson, a former Jacket — has drawn less ice time (12:00). If you rank the Blue Jackets by goals scored per 60 minutes of playing time at five-on-five, van Riemsdyk (.94) trails only Kent Johnson (1.39), Kirill Marchenko (1.21) and Mathieu Olivier (.97).
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Further, it’s the type of goals he’s scored this year — greasy, net-front, high-traffic goals — that usually rule the day when the temperature rises in the final few weeks of the season. Van Riemsdyk is one of the best heavy-traffic scorers in the NHL.
Seven of van Riemsdyk’s 14 goals have been scored on deflections or tip-ins, and 11 of the 14 have been scored from within 10 feet of the cage. For perspective, the hashmarks between the two faceoff circles are 10 feet from the goal line.
“As I’ve gotten older, you learn to handle it better,” van Riemsdyk said. “If you’re pissed off — and you probably should be if you’ve got that competitiveness in you — you have to channel it the right way and be ready when your number is called. I’ve shown when I’m in there that I’ve been productive and I’ve helped the team. Now I have to be patient and when I get an opportunity, be ready for it. Things always kind of shake themselves out.”
James van Riemsdyk – Columbus Blue Jackets (11) pic.twitter.com/QJFOpfj8rd
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) February 9, 2025
Van Riemsdyk said he’s trying to make the most of the situation.
When GM Don Waddell signed him as a free agent late in the summer, the Blue Jackets knew they were adding a veteran player — he’s dressed in 1,074 games, more than any other forward, and in 82 Stanley Cup playoff games, more than any player on the roster — but also an extension of the coaching staff.
In his 16th season, van Riemsdyk is one of the more respected players in the game, and he’s put that to use while out of the lineup the last two games. Before this, he’d played every game since Dec. 5, but he was a healthy scratch six times in a 10-game stretch in November.
The Blue Jackets are 3-6-0 with one regulation win when he sits.
“There are guys you develop relationships with through the year, and so I try to watch (their games) and try to help the team in that way,” van Riemsdyk said. “Guys will ask different things about certain plays or situational stuff, and I want to be a resource for that. That’s part of my value to the team, is being able to use my experience in a positive way to help guys.
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“I’ve been in this scenario a lot of times in my career, a playoff push down the stretch when every game is important. There’s stuff you can learn from that, and hopefully guys feel like they can ask me things and we can talk through certain citations. That’s part of having a good team environment.”
(Photo: Nathan Ray Seebeck / Imagn Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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