James van Riemsdyk signs a five-year contract with Flyers

James van Riemsdyk signed a five-year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.

Financial conditions were not disclosed.

The 29-year-old has ambaded 54 points, including 36 career goals in the NHL in 81 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season.

[ACCELERATED: NHL Free Agent Tracker | Fantasy Roundup: Signature of the Free Agent ]

"Looking in, the team that they have there, the parts that they have in place and the pieces that seem, "said Mr. van Riemsdyk at NHL Network." It's going to be a good opportunity to go and I think I'll have a chance to win, and obviously be of the general area it's nice to be able to share some of this stuff with my family and already have that comfort with "

Van Riemsdyk, a native of New Jersey who was acquired by Toronto in a Philadelphia trade for defenseman Luke Schenn on June 23, 2012, collected 294 points (154 goals, 140 badists) in 413 games. with the Maple Leafs after scoring 99 (47 goals, 52 badists) in 196 games in three seasons with the Flyers.

"We needed a left winger, especially in our top six," said Ron Hextall, chief executive of the Flyers. "With whom I play, I do not know if [Claude] Giroux plays on the left … I guess he'll start there, but we have a lot of options and that gives us a real left winger which is a good presence on the front of the stage, a big body with soft hands, so we really appreciate what James will bring us for the next five years. "

Video: Ron Hextall talks about signing James van Riemsdyk

Selected by Philadelphia with the No. 2 pick in the 2007 NHL Draft, van Riemsdyk has 29 points (18 goals, 11 badists) in 59 playoff games in the Cup Stanley.

"I think it was written by us and has a story here probably helped us through the process," Hextall said. "And again, we appreciate the local players, the players who have the Flyers logo and James is one of those guys, so we feel great about it."

Hextall said that Van Riemsdyk's signature would not affect the signature Wayne Simmonds to an extension of contract. Hextall said on June 22 that the Flyers were planning to sign Simmonds again, which kicks off the final season of a $ 23.82 million six-year contract (annual average value: 3.97 million dollars) that he signed on August 16, 2012.

I will talk, "said Hextall on Sunday." Where the talks go, I have no idea, let's talk to representatives of [Simmonds’] in the coming days here and we will see where this is going, we are comfortable if we are to enter next year, we are 'We love Wayne Simmonds; it does not change anything for Wayne. This is a different player from [Simmonds] and we are delighted to have James and certainly we would like to have [Simmonds] for a long time too. "