The name that has circulated the most going back to last season as Toronto Maple Leafs trade bait, is without a doubt upcoming free agent forward James van Riemsdyk. In almost every trade rumour involving the Leafs, if it's a good player coming the Leafs way, it's usually JVR going the other way. Having not been offered a contract yet, and upcoming contracts for Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander, to some JVR seems to be the odd man out. While some expect him to go, others believe JVR will stay at the trade deadline, and the Leafs will consider him their "own rental". «At this point, I'm just playing it out, I'm just trying to focus on that. The better you play, the more options you open up for yourself. I've tried not to think about,» he said. «You're human and it's your future, so there's some degree of that. Your mind goes there sometimes – wanting to know for sure.»
JVR mentions that he's spoken to friends like Paul Stastny and Matt Carle on how to handle the situation. «They told me, ‘Trust yourself and your abilities,' because the other things that are going on I can't really control,» van Riemsdyk said. «It seems stupid, but just play. You give yourself more options. Then the more options you have, hopefully you find the one that makes you happiest.»
