Early 2022 predictions for Trevor van Riemsdyk

We now round out our defensive portion of our Washington Capitals early player predictions with Trevor van Riemsdyk. Last season he had a goal and 16 assists for 17 points in 72 games and the team has been very high on his defensive potential.

He added two points in the playoffs with a goal and assist.

He’s also been acquired at a hell of a bargain. After success with the Carolina Hurricanes, the Caps signed him in the 2020 offseason to a one year, $800,000 contract. They liked his potential and re upped him in the middle of the 2021 pandemic shortened season.

That was a two year contract extension worth $1.9 million. His cap hit this season is $950K as was last season. So a shutdown defenseman at a good price.

Expect to see TvR with Erik Gustafsson on the third pair for the bulk of the season. If there was an injury or something to the top four though, TvR could slot in. He’s shown before that he can do it when COVID hit the team.

In the regular season TvR had a 49.44 percent Corsi For percentage, a 51.20 percent Expected Goals For percentage, and a 49.86 High Danger Chances For percentage via Natural Stat Trick.

TvR additionally averaged 17:28 minutes on the ice per night while laying out 25 hits and blocking 129 shots. So yeah he can definitely shut it down and he’ll look to do even better this season with a new partner.

The Caps have a couple new faces on the defense but a lot of returners. But this summer they’re going to have decisions to make on A LOT of them and that will include TvR who will probably want at least a million average annual value or more.

Maybe having just about everybody under contract will help them play better as a unit. Just a thought.

If you missed our other defensemen player previews check out Martin Fehervary, John Carlson, Dmitry Orlov, Nick Jensen, and Erik Gustafsson.