This is why the Flyers should consider buying out James Van Riemsdyk

At age 32, Van Riemsdyk is going through the worst campaign of his career. He only scored 11 goals and 18 points in 45 games.

With the Flyers missing the playoffs (not officially, but nobody sees them making it), Chuck Fletcher really should consider buying out the forward.

Of course, this is not the perfect solution. Some could say that his contract will expire next year, so no need to buy him out this summer. Buying him out would involve his contract to be counted under the cap for the next two years.

I'll answer that it's a good argument, but let's put things in perspective, please.

If the Flyers do buy out Van Riemsdyk, they could free up 2.67M$ under the cap next year. In 2023-24, if the Flyers are indeed going to buy out the forward, the impact of his contract would be very minimal at 1.33M$.

Don't forget that Sean Couturier's new contract (7.7M$ average) will count under the cap beginning next year. Same for Joel Farabee. Ryan Ellis and Kevin Hayes will, eventually, come back. Those four players will occupy 31% of the salary cap. And I didn't count Cam Atkinson, Travis Sanheim, Ivan Provorov, Scott Laughton or Travis Konecny.

Anyways, in one way or another, Chuck Fletcher will have to make some tough decisions to free up some space under the cap. Buying out James Van Riemsdyk could be one of them.