Report: Maple Leafs telling teams Van Riemsdyk not available, Kadri's price 'extremely high'
James van Riemsdyk is apparently part of the solution in Toronto.
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman discussed the Maple Leafs winger's future on Sportsnet 590 The Fan radio Friday morning.
I think (the Maple Leafs) are a seller, but I wonder if that just means, you know, the unrestricted guys, or the guys that are short-term contracts. You know, Van Riemsdyk, I think other teams would love to get their hands on him. I've had a couple of teams tell me that they've asked and been told he's not available. So ... the price is very high for him.
Van Riemsdyk is tied for the team lead in scoring with All-Star Leo Komarov. Both have 29 points. JVR, 27 in May, is under contract through 2017-18 at a salary of $5 million and a cap hit of $4.25 million. Now in his fourth season with Toronto after being acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers for Luke Schenn, Van Riemsdyk has 89 goals and 89 assists in 250 games in blue and white.
Friedman also discussed Maple Leafs center Nazem Kadri, whom the broadcaster recently talked at length about with Toronto general manager Lou Lamoriello.
Related: Projecting Kadri's next contract
"Based on comments Lamoriello made in that interview," Friedman said, "the price is extremely high for Kadri. If you want to take him off his hands, it's really going to cost you."
Finally, Friedman touched on Tyler Bozak's future.
You know, Bozak's a really interesting one. The hardest thing to find in this league are centers. Last year at the draft, they were not getting much for him. And they just say, we'll stay with him and see what happens under (head coach Mike) Babcock. He's had a great year. He's played really well. If you trade him, I look at it as you're going to be looking for him. OK, we traded Bozak, you know what we need, we need a guy who plays like Bozak. I think he's only going somewhere if the price is exceptional.
Kadri's a restricted free agent at the end of the season, playing out a one-year deal worth $4.1 million. Bozak's signed through 2017-18 at a $4.2-million cap hit. He's third on the team in scoring with nine goals and 18 assists in 37 games.