About Last Season: Trevor van Riemsdyk Performance Review and Grade

Trevor van Riemsdyk: 2018-19 By the Numbers

• Age: 28 on July 24
• NHL Seasons: 5
• Games Played: 78
• Scoring: 3 goals, 11 assists, 14 points
• Average Ice Time: 13:58 ES, 1:02 SH, 0:03 PP
• 5-on-5 (score/venue adjusted): 53.98 CF% (-0.98 relative), 43.98 GF%, 57.14 xGF% (+0.96 relative)
• Contract Status: Entering final season of two-year, $2.3 million AAV deal

Making the Grade

For my money, Trevor van Riemsdyk was the most consistent defenseman on Carolina’s roster during the 2017-18 season, his first as a Hurricane. While almost every other blueliner saw serious fluctuation in their game from start to finish in that season, TvR was very reliable.

The 2018-19 regular season told a different story, though, for one of Carolina’s oldest defensemen.

With a revolving door of d-partners, van Riemsdyk was never truly able to gain that level of consistency he had in ‘17-18. His mistakes in the defensive zone were more noticeable and impactful and he never could find a rhythm.

That’s not to say he was bad, though. His possession numbers were right around par for the course compared to his teammates, and his expected metrics were quite good. It was the actual results that hurt him, though. Perhaps part of that was just bad luck, but at least a significant portion of the problem was that his level of play simply tailed off at times throughout the year.

Down the stretch, TvR found himself with a permanent partner in Calvin de Haan. Together, they were a de facto “shutdown” pairing for Rod Brind’Amour and Dean Chynoweth. That’s where things started to really improve for him, as he and de Haan had downright excellent possession numbers at even strength and posted a high-danger shot attempt share well north of 60%. That’s really strong.

His most memorable spurts of play certainly came down the stretch, including a huge game-tying goal late in the third period against the Montreal Canadiens on March 24 that set the table for Andrei Svechnikov’s overtime game-winner.

That goal played a big role in pushing the Canes into the playoffs, where van Riemsdyk was truly excellent. On a young team with very little playoff experience, he was an ultra-reliable player in his own zone. As the Hurricanes rotated five defenseman with de Haan out with a shoulder injury (and even after de Haan’s return), he played some of his best hockey as a Hurricane when it really mattered, and that earns a lot of respect, at least from myself.

Unfortunately, his postseason ended early thanks to a big hit from Cal Clutterbuck. He underwent shoulder surgery after that incident in the second round and is expected to be ready to return to the ice around training camp or the start of the season.

It was an up-and-down year for van Riemsdyk, but the way he came to play late in the year and in the playoffs was awfully impressive. With Carolina’s current logjam on the blue line, it’ll be interesting to see what happens with him as he enters the final year of his contract. When healthy, he is a capable third pairing defenseman who can kick it up a notch in spurts.

To boot, he’s an important presence in the locker room and in the community as the team’s representative for “Hockey is For Everyone”. He’s been spectacular in his message during that campaign and is truly one of the “good guys” in the sport.

Exit Interview