ST. LOUIS—At first rivals, and now friends, the Maple Leafs’ James van Riemsdyk and Kevin Shattenkirk of the Blues are going through the same stage of their NHL careers at the same time.
Because of their talent, the contract situation and the teams they’re on, they have both been subjected to trade speculation this season.
“It hasn’t affected me at all,” van Riemsdyk said Thursday before the Leafs-Blues game. “As you get more experience, it’s easy not to take things like that so personally. You just realize it is part of the business side of the game.
“When you get towards the end of your contract in particular, teams want to explore their options. It doesn’t mean anything personal against you. It is part of their diligence. I don’t let it bother me.”
Shattenkirk just turned 28, is a right-handed shot — something coveted in a defenceman — and earns $4.25 million this season. He’s an unrestricted free agent July 1, and the Blues, underachieving this year to the point they had to fire their coach, might not to want to lose him for nothing.
Van Riemsdyk will turn 28 in May, a power forward, and earns the same amount of money. He’s an unrestricted free agent July 1, 2018. But the thinking is the Leafs need, umm, a right-handed-shooting defenceman and might get a decent return for van Riemsdyk at his relatively low salary cap hit this season, given his offensive numbers.
“We might have something to talk about in a few weeks,” Shattenkirk said. “Trade talk doesn’t change my mentality too much. I’m here to play for this team. It’s a mentality I’ve embraced all year.
“It’s not just the time of year for me. It’s something that’s been around all year. I’m pretty used to it by now. You almost become numb to it. You face new teams, the other media come in and want to know about it. It’s part of the game.”
Shattenkirk, from Connecticut, and van Riemsdyk, from New Jersey, grew up in rival minor hockey programs playing against each other. Then they were thrust together through the U.S. national development program.
“It’s fun to see a guy you grew up playing against and playing with having so much success,” van Riemsdyk said. “He’s the combination of having smarts with skating ability. He’s really good at putting the other team, especially the defenders, in an uncomfortable position where it is tough for them to make a play on him. He gives himself so much more time with the puck that way.”
Shattenkirk spoke just as highly of van Riemsdyk.
“He is a close friend of mine and someone I’ve admired for a long time,” Shattenkirk said. “He is not afraid to get his nose dirty around the net and he’s got very silky hands. He seems to be benefiting from having coach (Mike) Babcock.
“He’s a pretty humble guy. Very soft-spoken. He has the confidence to pull off anything. He’s not a showboater. He is someone who gets the job done, a real pro, takes care of his body.”
Both have already been traded. The Flyers drafted van Riemsdyk second overall in 2007 and dealt him to the Leafs five years later for defenceman Luke Schenn. Shattenkirk went 14th overall to Colorado the same year, and was dealt to St. Louis in a 2011 multiplayer trade that sent blueliner Erik Johnson to the Avalanche.
Shattenkirk said he has heard his name linked to so many teams “it’s hard to keep track.”
“It changes on almost a daily basis,” he said. “Every week a new situation presents itself. Our record. Other team’s records. A guy gets hurt . . . More than anything, the unsettling thing about it is you don’t know where or when it’s going to be. That can wear on your mind.”
Shattenkirk said the same holds true for van Riemsdyk.
“He is a valued guy all around the league,” said Shattenkirk. “He would be a good piece of the puzzle for any team. Maybe even in Toronto for a long time.”
That would be OK by van Riemsdyk, the team’s top left winger who is having the time of his life playing with so many youngsters.
“This year has been a lot of fun,” van Riemsdyk said. “Especially with the success we’ve been having at the rink. The injection of using new guys. When you have success, that is the key part. Makes it more fun and more enjoyable.”
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