JVR rejoining Flyers

VOORHEES, N.J. » Amid the “chaos” of his first experience as a sought-after free agent, James van Riemsdyk never gave up the search for the one intangible that would help make his decision easier.

“That sense of comfortability is definitely there,” the newest old Flyer said of his prodigal return Sunday. “I’m happy now to be coming back to Philadelphia. I think it’s going to be a great fit and I’m really excited to get started.”

With that — and when he finally found a working printer — van Riemsdyk made official his acceptance of a five-year, $35 million contract. For the Flyers, it is their most celebrated free agency signing since ... Vinny Lecavalier?

They probably should feel a bit more comfortable about this one.

“The one thing we felt really comfortable with was James was drafted as a Flyer,” general manager Ron Hextall said. “Whenever you’re drafted somewhere you do have a little bit more at stake there. So we felt with the fit — we needed some size, we needed goal scoring, we needed a left winger — this one just fit all around for us and I think James felt the same way.”

Van Riemsdyk said he stayed close to the Flyers, which he considered “a classy organization” even after ex-GM and current club president Paul Holmgren pulled the trigger on a trade near the end of the 2012 NHL Draft in which van Riemsdyk went to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for defenseman Luke Schenn.

Arguably, it could be called one of the worst trades in Flyers history. But “JVR” was still taken by the way the Flyers handled the trade, referencing a phone call he received on the day of the trade from then-owner Ed Snider.

“That really resonated with me,” van Riemsdyk said.

Over six seasons with the Leafs, van Riemsdyk scored 154 goals and 294 points in 413 games. He’s also been durable. He missed a half-season in 201516 with a fractured foot, but otherwise van Riemsdyk missed only three games in his other five Toronto seasons.

There are still four of his old teammates with the Flyers, captain Claude Giroux, Jake Voracek, Wayne Simmonds and Sean Couturier. That forward core group needed another scorer, and van Riemsdyk would seem to fit the bill, coming off a career-best 36 goals.

“I heard from (Giroux) and I talked to Jake Voracek as well,” van Riemsdyk said. “It was good. I think I did my homework, talked to some guys who are still there, some guys that aren’t there anymore but were there recently, just to get a feel for where things are at. Obviously I have that comfortablity with knowing a lot of about the organization, having played there in the past, and having a lot of familiar faces still on the staff and stuff like that.”

For Hextall, who started a press conference Sunday by noting he wasn’t here during the time van Riemsdyk was drafted, then traded five years later, this signing is somewhat of a landmark moment. Hextall’s previous shining July 1 moment was signing Dale Weise two years ago.

This time, largely free of the salary cap shackles he’d had to deal with the previous four years of his Flyers managing tenure, and with much of the rest of the league trying to get in on the top available free agent, John Tavares, Hextall was able to pull off a quick and easy response to the Flyers’ greatest need — more top-end scoring from the wing.

Oh, and that “comfortability” intangible didn’t hurt, either.

“We were focused on him from the start,” Hextall said.

Yet a few other teams expressed interest, van Riemsdyk said. So he told himself to do his due diligence, which meant contacting old teammates to see what the atmosphere was under Hextall and coach Dave Hakstol. He heard what he wanted to hear. “I think there was a sense of comfortability in knowing what the organization is all about,” van Riemsdyk said. “Remembering my time previously it was how bad they want to win and they’re willing to put resources into that. Again, that passion and that commitment to that was a big thing to me.”

It took a little longer to formalize the deal than expected, however. Some 15 hours after the news of the signing broke, and a couple of hours into the free agency period — during which time van Riemsdyk appeared twice via Skype on the Canadian sports cable networks talking about going back to the Flyers — the signing still hadn’t been completed.

That’s because, Hextall noted, there was a printer problem on van Riemsdyk’s end. Of course, he can afford a new one now.