Back to the Philadelphia Flyers Newsfeed

Flyers’ Paul Holmgren is happy James van Riemsdyk is back in the fold

Flyers president Paul Holmgren found himself in an unusual spot this summer: Part of a quorum deciding whether the Flyers should go after free agent James van Riemsdyk — a player he once traded away for what turned out to be very little, a trade he grew to regret over the final seasons of his eight as Flyers general manager.

Despite the unflattering narrative that often accompanies those years, Holmgren was not a bad general manager. He picked up Scott Hartnell and Kimmo Timonen for a draft pick. His unpopular trade of Mike Richards netted Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn (which in turn netted touted prospect Morgan Frost).