There was so much hype and potential heading into the trade deadline for the Philadelphia Flyers to make a sizeable move for the future of the organization — to move on from a veteran piece that has been slowly accruing more value and becoming a better player. And, well, the Flyers are not going to be making that trade.
According to multiple reports, the Flyers are not trading Rasmus Ristolainen before the trade deadline. He will remain with the team for the rest of the year and the reason is pretty simple: There was not an offer at a price that they liked.
I'm told the #Flyers are not moving Rasmus Ristolainen. They did not get their price.@DailyFaceoff
— Anthony Di Marco (@ADiMarco25) March 6, 2026
Ristolainen is signed through next season at a $5.1-million AAV cap hit, so it is not their last chance to trade the 31-year-old Finnish blueliner, but it was certainly an opportunity to do so, that they rejected.
Flyers opt not to trade Rasmus Ristolainen at deadline
Leading up to the trade deadline, the reports were that the Flyers wanted a return similar to what the Boston Bruins got for defenseman Brandon Carlo from the Toronto Maple Leafs last year. It was a first-round pick, prospect Fraser Minten, and a fourth-round pick. That was the deal that Flyers general manager Danny Briere wanted for his own big right-handed blueliner.
While digging their heels into the sand worked for other trades — they were able to get their asking price of a first-round pick for Sean Walker and Scott Laughton in back-to-back years — it did not work this year and while teams snatched up similar defenseman from around the league for more reasonable deals, the Flyers stood pat and prayed that some team would call them with an offer they liked by 3:00 p.m. Friday.
That did not happen, unfortunately.
The Flyers will now have Ristolainen on their blue line for the remaining 21 games of the season (if he stays healthy, that is) and possibly re-enter these trade discussions in the offseason.
Flyers can re-engage Ristolainen trade talk this summer
With no move right now, it doesn’t mean that the Flyers are completely hopeless or there is no possible move coming in the future. With Ristolainen under contract through next year, there is an easy possibility that he is going to be traded this summer, around the NHL Draft for example, as more teams open up roster spots and like the possibility of him on their blue line heading into the 2026-27 season.
Or, the worst-case scenario is that we go through all of this again with Ristolainen as a pending unrestricted free agent next season and the Flyers try to get something of value for him as a rental. And, honestly, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if they could pry something like a second-round pick for a healthy Ristolainen as a final piece and short-term fix from some Stanley Cup contender.
It is not what any Flyers fan — okay, we’ll say most Flyers fans — wanted at this trade deadline. We all dreamed of the potential return that Ristolainen would get, involving a first-round pick or some cool prospect, and then to watch this team without him on the blue line to see more players get some larger minutes through the final stretch of the season.
But, it’s not happening and all we can do is wait around.
