Insiders Project 2 Most Likely Destinations for Trade Target Rasmus Ristolainen

Now that the holiday roster freeze is over, trade season has resumed in the National Hockey League, and most of the names that were circulating on the rumor mill the past couple of months will come back to the forefront.

One of those that has garnered the most attention is Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. The top-four blueliner seems to be on many team's target lists.

And the Flyers are willing to deal him, but the asking price seems to be a good prospect or young player or a combination of a prospect and a pick. Ristolainen still carries another two years on his contract at a $5.1 million cap hit.

Insiders Pierre LeBrun and Chris Johnston in The Athletic have weighed in with their two top picks for Ristolainen trade destinations:

Winnipeg Jets

LeBrun selected the Jets as his projection, explaining that since the team has troubles wooing UFAs, acquiring a player with term is a good idea for them. And in Ristolainen, they would also get some much-needed size on the right side of their defense. The Flyers' sizeable D-man is 6'4", 208 pounds, and has topped the 200-hit mark four times in his career.

And there's no reason to doubt that the Jets would be all-in this season, holding the best record in the NHL, at 25-10-1.

Dallas Stars

The Stars added a key blueliner at last season's trade deadline in Chris Tanev, and it served them well, going on a long playoff run. They will most likely be aiming to do the same thing this time around, as Johnston notes that they "haven’t yet filled that hole on the right side of their blue line." With their Cup window clearly still open, the Stars will be spending to beef up the lineup down the stretch. They will have Tyler Seguin's $9.8 million of cap space once they place him on LTIR. And while a big-name forward is also a possibility for GM Jim Nill to go out and add, a big defenseman like Ristolainen makes a lot more sense.