For the last few years now, the Flyers have threaded the needle. They’ve been putting a middling to (now) decently good roster on the ice, but emphasized the goal of developing players and planning for the future above all else. They never would tank, but they also weren’t in the business of competing or really even getting close to the playoffs.
In that process, they’ve never really added to the team, and only ever sold. They’ve acted the way that teams in a rebuild act, even if they’ve done so a bit unconventionally. So, when the five-year Christian Dvorak extension was announced, it has been percieved as the Flyers being fully finished with subtracting from their NHL roster.
That might not be what Daniel Briere has in mind, though. On Tuesday, Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco reported that the Flyers were very open-minded to trading defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen at the trade deadline.
“Speaking with a team source, while he is not actively being shopped, defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is still very much available for trade,” Di Marco said in a recent article.
In addition, Di Marco noted that the Flyers would be looking for the “Ben Chiarot” package in any trade. For reference, Montreal sent Chiarot to Florida at the 2022 Trade Deadline for a first and a fourth round pick, as well as a depth prospect. That would certainly be a worthwhile coup for Briere, nabbing a first rounder for a defenseman that’s been effective but often injured in his Flyers tenure.
Even further, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta added fuel to the fire on Wednesday, saying that the Flyers would listen on Ristolainen if they could get a “Brandon Carlo” return – “an NHL player, a 1st round pick, and potentially another asset.”
Immediately, Flyers fans will be quick to compare this situation with Sean Walker’s a few years ago. Walker, who the Flyers traded away amidst a playoff race two seasons ago for a first round pick, was a pivotal top-4 defenseman for a young team. Ristolainen, if he was to be traded, would be another example of Briere removing an important blueliner out of a playoff race, and significantly weakening his team in the process.
So, how would a potential Ristolainen trade compare to the Sean Walker situation?
Steadier top-4 and defensive depth
Two trade deadlines ago, the Flyers sat in third place in the Metro, on a 95 point pace, and with a top-4 that was really held together by the emergence of Sean Walker. John Tortorella was getting the absolute most out of his team, and everything was kinda hanging by the Sean Walker thread. There was also the issue of an incredibly unstable goaltending situation and the overreliance on Sam Ersson, but removing Walker from the team was really the final blow to the Flyers playoff hopes.
The Flyers had no real internal options to replace him, and they weren’t exactly interested in going out and finding a viable one. The defensive depth was Egor Zamula, Marc Staal, Erik Johnson, Ronnie Attard, Adam Ginning, Louie Belpedio, and even Victor Mete got a game. The entire defensive depth of the organization was patchwork, a problem that was exacerbated to an insane level post-Walker trade.
Now? Barring any injuries, trading would leave the Flyers with this for the third-pair and their organizational depth, assuming the top-4 remains as constructed (Sanheim, York, Drysdale, Andrae): Nick Seeler, Noah Juulsen, Ty Murchison, Helge Grans, Adam Ginning, Oliver Bonk, Christian Kyrou. That’s still not great, but the Flyers would at minimum be able to run a pretty serviceable Nick Seeler on a third pair with a rookie that has impressed (Murchison). Assuming Jamie Drysdale returns to good health in the coming weeks, we’ve also already seen the Flyers succeed defensively without Ristolainen. Emil Andrae has become an established puck-moving defenseman, Travis Sanheim and Cam York remain steady, and Jamie Drysdale is emerging into a transition force. With all that happening, perhaps losing Ristolainen wouldn’t be as big of a blow to the Flyers’ playoff chances as one would assume.
The goalies aren’t holding on by a thread
The 2023-24 season was incredibly messy in between the pipes for the Flyers, in the wake of the Carter Hart situation. Sam Ersson was forced into a really unfavorable situation, and just totally ran out of steam.
Obviously, Sam Ersson is still here and not performing very well, but he has a legit goaltender ahead of him in Dan Vladar. Having a starting goalie that’s hovering around a ~.910 save percentage is such a massive boost for the Flyers’ playoff chances and probably their willingness to make moves with this roster. That includes a possible increase in the Flyers’ willingness to subtract someone like Ristolainen, as the team defense and goaltending is considerably better than it was during the Walker situation. While a top-4 defenseman being removed from the roster was fatal in 2023-24, the Flyers may have the goaltending and team defensive structure this year to withstand a Ristolainen trade.
The 2024-25 Flyers are at a different stage in the process
The other thing that’s different? In this current position, the Flyers would theoretically look for additions to this roster, not just subtractions. They’d look for another defenseman, one that perhaps does some things that Ristolainen does, but can also be the point man on the power play. The PHLY Flyers podcast mentioned the idea of Dougie Hamilton, for reference, as a potential target. Guys of that ilk – defenseman who can command a power play – are something that we know the Flyers have identified as the No. 1 issue for the power play. Not having someone to meaningfully complement the skillsets of Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov, and to be a legit threat at the point, has just been killing the power play. So, maybe if the Flyers were to find a worthwhile price and trade for Ristolainen, they’d open up a roster spot to buy a defenseman with team control in another trade.
Considering the Flyers’ numerous statements regarding being done selling from the roster, you’d have to think the Flyers would only move on from Ristolainen if they have a viable plan to actually improve the roster in the process. It also would be another example of the Flyers threading the needle of win-now and prioritizing the future. There’s lots of potential moving parts, but there’s a path to some pretty shrewd roster maneuvering as we approach the Olympic Break and the March trade deadline. It’s just a shame this path would end our chances to finally see Playoff Risto in action.
