The Philadelphia Flyers have found themselves once again in the middle of some trade rumors as we inch closer to the NHL trade deadline. This time it isn’t in a strict teardown with obvious pending free agents that they will likely move, but instead a defenseman who just doesn’t fit the long-term picture and is playing well enough to get attention.
Rasmus Ristolainen is riding a high after winning a bronze medal in Milan and after logging big minutes for Team Finland and looking good while doing it, the 31-year-old blueliner is getting some attention from other teams who might be looking for someone who does exactly what he can do. Because who wouldn’t want a 6-foot-4, right-handed defenseman that is solid defensively while also not afraid to get in on the action between whistles?
According to a recent report, the Flyers are receiving calls from several teams for Ristolainen and the possibility of a trade happening before next week’s trade deadline seems to be ramping up. So, with that in mind, who are some specific teams that we could see give up some assets for the big man?
First off, it needs to be said that the Flyers do want a package including a first-round pick — and possibly even more. With eyes on past deals like the trade that sent Brandon Carlo to Toronto last year, that included a first-rounder, a mid-tier prospect, and another mid-round pick, the Flyers believe that they can get something of high value for Ristolainen.
Now, who are some teams that should be interested and have assets to burn?
Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings are the first team that immediately comes to mind. They value big men on their blue line, with the likes of Simon Edvinsson and Moritz Seider leading the team from the back, but they also have room to improve on the right side behind the young German. Considering that they are likely to finally experience playoff hockey for the first time since 2016, having a young rookie in Axel Sandin-Pellikka, depth player Jacob Bernard-Docker, and the corpse of Travis Hamonic be your potential right-handed options behind Seider, is not great at all.
Throw in the fact that it’s Ben Chiarot manning the other side of the second pairing, and there is certainly not a whole lot to like on the Detroit blue line beyond the young studs. General manager Steve Yzerman most likely wants to make a bigger impact in the playoffs than just the “happy to be here” roster that he currently has. And with the Eastern Conference wide open aside from the Lightning and Hurricanes? There is an opportunity here for Detroit to take over.
So, in comes Ristolainen to calm everything down from the back and suddenly things fall into place so much better all throughout their lineup. Chiarot and Ristolainen are the veteran stablizers as Seider, Edvinsson, Sandin-Pellikka, and Albert Johansson provide some jump.
What do the Red Wings have to give up? They do have all their first-round picks, so even if they don’t want to part with their pick for this year’s draft — since that could be a player that further helps them and joins their core — it could still certainly be in 2027 or 2028 if they think that’s easier to swallow. As for prospects, there are levels.
If the Flyers did not specifically need to have a first-rounder, they could target 21-year-old center prospect Nate Danielson as the centerpiece to the deal, and then have some other mid-round pick just to round it out. Or if it is a first-round pick, a prospect they could target could be 23-year-old, left-handed defenseman William Wallinder — who was once considered a top prospect but has never been able to get over that hump and make it to the NHL roster. Wallinder is 6-foot-4 and was a solid defender in his developing years, so he might be someone the Flyers want to rejuvenate and be a long-term solution alongside someone like Jamie Drysdale, just as an example.
Nevertheless, Detroit feels like a player and team fit that just works so well together.
Boston Bruins
The Bruins were one of the teams named as specific landing spots for Ristolainen, and reportedly called the Flyers to inquire about the player, according to the recent report from Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco. While they are not on the come up like the Red Wings and it makes sense to part with future assets for a win-now player — you know, because the Bruins still kind of suck — they definitely don’t want to get any worse and Ristolainen being under contract through next season could be attractive.
They do need an improvement on the blue line since there is a big imbalance between the abilities of Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, and even Nikita Zadorov, to the likes of defensively inept Mason Lohrei and Andrew Peeke. Now that Boston is better than it thought it would be this season, they might make a move like this to stay afloat better than they would without the blue line improvement.
The Bruins have all their own first-round picks, and famously also have the Toronto Maple Leafs’ pick that is top-five protected for this year; as well as the Florida Panthers’ 2027 first-round pick that is top-10 protected. It would be tough to see them move on from any of those picks, since they aren’t in the most secure position in the standings, and those other two selections could be extremely valuable down the line.
Aside from focusing on just second-round picks, the Bruins also don’t have a lot in their prospect cupboard. The main young player that isn’t on the Bruins roster is 21-year-old center Matthew Poitras. He could be a very interesting add and someone the Flyers can bring up as a scoring center, but it certainly feels that Poitras is the main asset the Bruins have to use for an upgrade
Sure, they can trade recent draft picks like Will Moore and Dena Letourneau, but those feel like prospects they are more committed to playing a role on the team in the coming years. And obviously we aren’t even going to mention James Hagens.
The Bruins aren’t the perfect fit, but there is at least one interesting prospect that the Flyers could target.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Eastern Conference runs through the Lightning. They are clearly the best team in the Atlantic division and in classic Lightning fashion, they are most likely going to try to make their roster even better by bringing in players with solid tools and making the most out of them within Jon Cooper’s system.
Basically, it would make a whole lot of sense if they saw Ristolainen as their modern-day Luke Schenn acquisition — how they somehow turned that defenseman into someone who is capable of winning a Stanley Cup with them. And of course, the Lightning do need help on the right side.
Darren Raddysh is having a mind-boggling season as someone Tampa picked up off the scrap heap and suddenly he’s scoring at a point per game on the top pairing next to J.J Moser. Erik Cernak is certainly good as a top-four defenseman, but someone named Declan Carlile is currently serving on their bottom pairing.
If the Lightning acquired Ristolainen, they could run out a blue line that has Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, J.J. Moser, Cernak, Raddysh, and the 31-year-old Finn. That feels like a defense group that is punishing and built for the playoffs extremely well.
The Lightning have just $3.84 million of projected deadline cap space (and current cap space), so the Flyers would need to most likely retain. But the uncomfortable thing is that the Lightning don’t have their 2026 or 2027 first-round pick. Sure, their 2028 pick could be up for grabs, and with the Lightning only getting older it could be a good bet by the Flyers for that to be a decent selection, but that’s also boring because we would need to wait two years for that to be made.
There are some interesting prospects like OHL center Ethan Czata, but that really is their only young player of note, and they could use him in a few years.
It doesn’t feel like the Lightning have the assets the Flyers want for Ristolainen, but there is at least the possibility of something interesting happening here.
Let’s just hope, in the end, the trade is a good one. We need it.
