Flyers' Ristolainen Drawing 'A Ton Of Interest'

The Philadelphia Flyers are receiving a ton of interest for Rasmus Ristolainen. This report comes from Darren Dreger on Insider Trading.

Everything about this is intriguing. Ristolainen is having a solid season for the Flyers based on the eye test, but nothing special stands out analytically or on the scoresheet. Through 23 games, the veteran defenseman has one goal and four points to go along with 20:37 of ice time per game.

He has only taken 27 shots, but has 42 blocked shots and 44 hits. Ristolainen also has 25 turnovers already. Analytically, he has an expected goals for % of 45.82 at 5-on-5 and 42.11 goals for %, also at 5-on-5. The Flyers aren't great and only Emile Andrae has a GF% over 50% for the team this season. Ristolainen has played the second most minutes among d-men on Philadelphia as well.

Ristolainen is 30 years old and has two more years left on his contract after this season at $5.1 million AAV. He really took a step back offensively last season by scoring just one goal and four points in 31 games. He had combined for five goals and 36 points in 140 games in the two seasons prior since joining the Flyers.

In his early 20s, Ristolainen was a completely different player offensively, scoring 40+ points in four consecutive seasons while playing on the power play and logging nearly 26 minutes per game with the Buffalo Sabres. We are long past that and if the Flyers are gaining so much interest for the veteran, there is likely going to be some cap retention in any trade that happens.

Ristolainen has 59 minutes on the penalty kill this season and is more of a defense-first type of big defender now who plays the right side. This is a mix of player many teams could use, especially at a reduced price.

The Flyers have two retention spots available to them, so it is no problem to eat some money to get a deal done. The team has some solid young defensemen who could step into his role and a trade at this point in his contract is the best thing for the Flyers.