James van Riemsdyk, Kevin Hayes aware of trade rumors but focused on the day-to-day

When James van Riemsdyk enters his home, he turns his phone to airplane mode in an attempt to unplug and focus on family. But with the NHL trade deadline three days away and his contract in its final year, van Riemsdyk knows he probably should keep his phone on a little bit more.

“[Normally] you’d have to send a smoke signal or something,” van Riemsdyk joked.

At this time of the season, van Riemsdyk has always tried to focus on the day-to-day rather than worrying about if he or one of his teammates will get traded. He’s had to work extra hard for that focus this season.

» READ MORE: Assessing the Flyers’ potential trade chips ahead of Friday’s deadline

Whether he’s paying attention to the trade rumors or not, van Riemsdyk is realistic and knows he’s a big topic of conversation given his age (33) on a rebuilding team and his pending unrestricted free-agent status. The people around van Riemsdyk are aware of it, too. Different guys have reached out to check on how he and his family are doing. And coach John Tortorella acknowledged that it can be a distraction when he addressed his team last month following trade rumors involving Ivan Provorov, something van Riemsdyk said coaches haven’t really done for him before.

Van Riemsdyk’s Flyers career has come in two stints. He was drafted by the team in 2007 (No. 2 overall) and played two-and-a-half seasons here before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. After six years in Toronto, he returned to Philadelphia and is now in his eighth season as a Flyer. While van Riemsdyk acknowledges that he could be traded, the reality hasn’t sunk in yet.

“I haven’t had enough time, I think, to fully reflect and process on that,” van Riemsdyk said. “Maybe that’s a better question for some point down the road. ... We could be here chatting again on Saturday, maybe. You never know.”

Van Riemsdyk sat out Saturday’s game against New Jersey and Monday’s practice because he was “banged up” but returned to the ice for Tuesday’s optional practice. He said he hasn’t yet had conversations with management about whether they would hold him back from Wednesday’s game for trade purposes.

Kevin Hayes’ name re-entered the trade rumor mill Monday night after the Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli listed him at No. 3 on his top 50 trade targets list.

Hayes is aware of the rumors, and he has nothing to add to them.

“I’m probably reading the same things you guys are reading,” Hayes said. “There’s no real inside information I can give you. I mean, this is every year. A new guy pops up on the trade [rumor front]. Three days ago it was Joel [Farabee]. Now it’s me.”

» READ MORE: What NHL insiders are saying about the Flyers ahead of the trade deadline

The Flyers are trying to get younger, and Hayes is 30 and due $7.14 million over the next three seasons. Hayes knows that. He loves the city and his teammates. He also knows he has zero control over whether he’s traded. The only control he has is that his contract gives him the right to make a list of 12 teams to which the Flyers can’t trade him.

Hayes was in a similar position at the end of his contract with the New York Rangers and ultimately was traded at the deadline to the Winnipeg Jets. He’s learned to accept the situation and not to worry about the rumors. The only news he should worry about, he’s learned, is what his agent and his general manager tell him.

After returning to the ice following a maintenance day Monday, Hayes is just focused on the next game (Wednesday against the New York Rangers) and isn’t letting the rumors distract or discourage him.

“The organization needs to make decisions that they think are going to help them, and that sometimes means that players need to go,” Hayes said. “I could be one of them. ... You can argue it’s a good thing. You can argue it’s a bad thing. [I] try to just stay even keel about it.”

The Flyers host the Rangers at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday (TNT). ... Forward Elliot Desnoyers, who was recalled Monday, was on the ice Tuesday for an optional skills practice. Nine players took the option, while Tortorella was absent because of a personal matter. General manager Chuck Fletcher spoke in place of Tortorella. ... Forwards Tanner Laczynski (lower body) and Zack MacEwen (jaw) participated at practice.