A day after being sent from a Stanley Cup contender in the Colorado Avalanche, Ryan Johansen is heading down to the American Hockey League, most likely for the rest of this season.
Johansen, traded to Philadelphia as part of the Sean Walker deal, was immediately placed on waivers yesterday after the Flyers acquired him. On Thursday afternoon, it was announced he cleared waivers and will be assigned to the Flyers’ AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley.
Johansen played 63 games for the Avs this season scoring 13 goals to go with 10 assists for 23 points.
With Johansen in the AHL, all but $1.15 million of his cap hit remains on the Flyers’ books. So, officially, for him being down in the minors, Philadelphia will have $2.85 million of dead cap space added to the $3.85 million they already have thanks to Cal Petersen’s contract down in the AHL, as well.
Originally thought to be an interesting pickup by the Flyers and a player that they could use for the remainder of their season, Johansen was swiftly sent away from the NHL to probably not be heard from for a while. He does have the NHL acumen to be a believable depth center on this Flyers team, but the organization clearly does not want him actually participating.
While he is being sent to the AHL, one has to wonder if this is part of a larger trade plan. Now that Johansen has cleared waivers, if he is traded to a different team, he could be sent down to their own AHL team within 30 days without having to pass through waivers once more. It might be nothing more than a crackpot theory as to why this is happening a day before the NHL’s trade deadline, but it is at least a scenario that could happen due to the circumstances.
If not, Johansen is under contract through next season as well. So we are either going to be seeing a former All-Star finish out his deal in the AHL, or a potential contract buyout this summer that would hold just a $1.33-million dead cap hit for two years, through the 2025-26 season.
Welcome to Allentown, Ryan.
