Hours after the conclusion of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, the Philadelphia Flyers swung their second significant deal of the weekend, sending left winger James van Riemsdyk to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for defenseman Luke Schenn.
The swap involves two of the most promising young stars in the National Hockey League. However, the 23-year-old van Riemsdyk, a native of Middletown Township, N.J., is coming off a season in which he played just 43 games before suffering a broken foot. He had only missed a total of 11 regular season games in his first two seasons with Philadelphia, recording 35 points (15 goals, 20 assists) in the 2009-10 season, and 40 points (21 goals, 19 assists) in 2010-11.
Schenn, 22, was selected by the Maple Leafs with the 5th overall pick in the 2008 Draft and is regarded as one of the best young defensive defensemen in the game. He has only missed six regular season games since the start of the 2009-10 regular season, his first full campaign in the NHL.
Luke Schenn is also the older brother of Flyers defenseman Brayden Schenn, who came to Philadelphia from the Los Angeles Kings in last summer's Mike Richards trade.
Schenn is about to begin the second year of a five-year contract worth $18 million. According to capgeek.com, Schenn's salary cap hit is $3.6 million for this season. By contrast, this coming NHL season will be the first of van Riemsdyk's 6-year, $25.5 million contract, which comes with a $4.25 million annual cap hit through the 2017-18 season.
Stay with NBC10.com for the latest on this developing story.
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