Big Flyers Trade Piece To Be Out “At Least” A Month

The Philadelphia Flyers have several trade pieces on their blue line, but one of them will now likely not be going anywhere—except to injured reserve. Veteran Rasmus Ristolainen, according to a report from Daily Faceoff insider Anthony Di Marco, has a more significant injury than expected and will be out a minimum of a month.

Full story coming later, but multiple sources confirm that Rasmus Ristolainen's injury is significant and he will be out a minimum of one month.

A move ahead of the trade deadline seems unlikely, at this point.#LetsGoFlyers

— Anthony Di Marco (@ADiMarco25) February 14, 2024

Follow-up reports offered a few more details, noting that after about two-to-three weeks Ristolainen will have a procedure done on the upper body issue which should determine further the full extent of whatever the injury is that he's dealing with. There is a possibility that he could return shortly after that procedure, or he could miss even more time. For their part, the Flyers are holding back on stating any timelines, saying only that "there's no timetable" for a return, and hoping to have more information in the days ahead.

The Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs & Vancouver Canucks were among the teams with interest in the 6'4" D-man. But as he's expected to be out until past the trade deadline on March 8th, it's highly unlikely at this point that he'll be dealt.

Ristolainen, the former No. 8 overall pick in the NHL Draft (2013), is far from the 25-minute-a-night workhorse he was earlier in his career with the Buffalo Sabres, but he has attracted some attention from other teams of late, mostly playing third-pairing minutes for the Flyers, averaging 16:41 of ice time a night.

He's currently in the middle of a five-year contract, carrying a $5.1 million cap hit.

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