The Philadelphia Flyers can’t seem to go too long, even in the dog days of August, without being in the hockey news cycle.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Flyers announced that they have placed center Ryan Johansen on unconditional waivers, for the purpose of terminating his contract.
The Flyers originally acquired the 32-year-old center from the Colorado Avalanche in the Sean Walker trade in the middle of last season. He immediately claimed that he was injured, and ended up not appearing on the ice for the rest of the season.
Of note, the Flyers cite a “material breach” as the reason for terminating Johansen’s contract, an interesting way to phrase the situation. Per the CBA and work from Beyond The Glass Hockey, a material breach of a contract can move forward under the two conditions listed below.
“The Club may also terminate this SPC upon written notice to the Player (but only after obtaining Waivers from all other Clubs) if the Player shall at any time:
a. Fail, refuse, or neglect to obey the Club’s rules governing training and conduct of Players, if such failure, refusal or neglect should constitute a material breach of this SPC.
b. Fail, refuse, or neglect to render his services hereunder or in any other manner materially breach this SPC.”
For the Flyers, it’s likely that Johansen’s breach of the contract revolves around his failure to report to the team or the AHL, citing an injury that Flyers officials are unsure if it was even real. If Johansen was outright refusing to come to camp but unable to cite a legitimate reason why, it’s no wonder that the Flyers turned to the last resort in deciding to terminate the contract.
If this goes through, the Flyers would shed the entirety of Johansen’s $4 million cap hit and be squarely under the cap, with about $3.2 million in wiggle room. That might not be the most likely of outcomes, though, as Johansen is set to file a grievance against the Flyers once the termination goes through.
This situation might look a bit like last fall’s Corey Perry-Blackhawks situation, where Perry was removed from the team due to off-ice conduct issues. After his contract was terminated, Perry filed and won a grievance, and the Blackhawks were on the books for a partial cap hit. If Johansen were to file a grievance and win, he might not receive the entirety of his $4 million, but the Flyers might still be on the books for a fraction of that. The Predators, who retain the other $4 million on Johansen, would likely pay a similar rate to Johansen in those circumstances.
So, the Flyers are lawyered up against Johansen, and it’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out. Whether the Flyers receive a partial or full cap relief from Johansen’s termination, it appears that Briere has found a way under the $88 milllion cap ceiling without having to tap into LTIR.
UPDATE:
After the Flyers released their statement regarding their intention to terminate Johansen’s contract, the player’s agent Kurt Overhardt released a statement of his own.
“Ryan Johansen has a severe hockey injury that requires extensive surgery which has been scheduled,” the statement read. “Since being traded to the Philadelphia Flyers, Ryan has worked in good faith with the Club, its medical staff, and authorized third party physicians. The Flyers’ attempt to terminate Ryan’s contract is disappointing. We have been in contact with the NHLPA and will defend Ryan and protect his rights.”
This is nowhere close to being the end of this story.
There will be more and more lawyers involved as both the player and the Flyers are digging in hard to get the outcome they want.
