James van Riemsdyk is back, healthy and maybe stronger than ever.

Van Riemsdyk’s 2015-16 season came to an unintended halt when he took a shot off his left foot in early January, causing a non-displaced fracture. To that point, he had only missed two games in four seasons as a Maple Leaf. He missed half a season last year.

“I pride myself on preparing myself physically to be able to play every game,” van Riemsdyk said. “I want to be out there every night, and try to make a difference every night. I put myself in the best position to stay healthy, and it was definitely frustrating when a fluky thing like that happened and ends your season really early.

“It was disappointing. But you have to use the time wisely. It’s not often you get a break like that, give your body a chance to heal, and focus on things off the ice to make bigger gains.”

Van Riemsdyk was leading the team in scoring with 14 goals and 15 assists when the injury struck. His absence more or less ushered in the official beginning of the team’s tank to last place in the standings. The Leafs were 16-17-7, just seven points from a playoff spot, when van Riemsdyk went on the injured list, and went 13-25-4 without him the rest of the way. Of course, once van Riemsdyk got hurt, veterans began getting traded or sat for prolonged periods with — nudge-nudge, wink-wink — injuries.

Those departures created space for the team to audition young players like William Nylander and Connor Brown, which created some excitement toward the end of the year. But van Riemsdyk missed out on getting to play with those young players.

Now, with more young players coming —Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner among them — van Riemsdyk can’t wait to see what the Leafs are going to become this season.

“It’s going to be really exciting, just being in the room, you see the excitement those guys have getting their first taste of the NHL and all the challenges that come with it,” van Riemsdyk said. “It was definitely exciting to watch and see some of the success some of these younger guys had. It speaks well for the future of the franchise.

“This year we have to continue to take those steps forward. You don’t want to finish last in the standings too often. Hopefully we’re on our way up from there.”

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