Rasmus Ristolainen feels like he’s from a very specific time period during the recent history of the Philadelphia Flyers. Those few months during the summer where we all had expectations and dreams of what will happen under Chuck Fletcher, to then only be left with some mismatched feelings after all the transactions were done and the team was made whole.
Some transactions were good and filled us with hope (Ryan Ellis has since disappeared and will most likely never play hockey again), and some filled us with just weird and awkward confusion (giving up so much for Ristolainen). A debut season and a five-year contract extension later, Ristolainen has now spent two years in Philadelphia and has already gone through multiple head coaches and general managers.
Ristolainen’s spot on this team still feels like a remnant of bad times for the Flyers. Yes, other players were brought in under Fletcher and are still on the roster, but the decision to trade for the defenseman and then sign him to a long-term contract extension before his first season in Philadelphia was even done, feels just like a dirty smudge over what should be some exciting future-looking times.
He’s still going to be here for the foreseeable future so we should get used to it, I guess.
2022-23 Rundown
| Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points | 5v5 CF% | 5v5 xGF% |
| 74 | 3 | 17 | 20 | 45.60% | 48.15% |
What did we see from Ristolainen last season?
We certainly saw some things. Coming into last season, the expectation was for Ristolainen to play like he did during his first year in Philadelphia. Just hit some people, have some extremely GIF-able moments for everyone to think and laugh about, and then maybe have a game or two where he scores a goal. We might be a little crazy, but there was a period of last season where he was downright impressive.
It has been all attributed to head coach John Tortorella coming in and putting a firm structure in place — something we have not seen in so long — for Ristolainen to play within. Because after all, Ristolainen never really had that during the first half of his career with the Buffalo Sabres and certainly not during his debut Flyers season. He has had a rotating carousel of head coaches to learn and unlearn their habits and what they like. Tortorella provided at least the smallest amount of stability for Ristolainen to make something work and not be the NHL’s worst defenseman.
He certainly wasn’t objectively a good player last year — he still had just 20 points and the opposing team was often the better team while he was on the ice — but it was enough for us to not panic about the next couple of years. We will maybe dislike him being on the team more when we have higher expectations of the team and his presence prevents the skilled, young forwards from reaching the point totals they deserve, but that is something for a different season preview.
What type of role do we expect Ristolainen to play this season?
It would be a fool’s errand to expect something more from Ristolainen at this point. He is what he is. As of right now, he will most likely be playing somewhere in the top-four on the blue line — with Sean Walker taking the other spot on the right side — and either anchoring Cam York or Travis Sanheim.
Overall, the point total might increase a little bit with more skilled forwards and the crafty veterans back from injuries, but that won’t be anything of Ristolainen’s doing.
God, it is so hard to think about what we really want to see from this guy.
What would make for a successful season for Ristolainen?
A successful season for Ristolainen would be to finish it and have another year on his contract expire. We have nothing else to say.
