The Philadelphia Flyers moved out some cap space by trading Shayne Gostisbehere yesterday, but didn’t wait long to use it up. The team has acquired defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Robert Hagg, a first-round pick in this year’s draft (14th overall) and a second-round pick in 2023.
Ristolainen, 26, has just one year remaining on his contract and carries a $5.4MM cap hit. Though he brings the mix of size–Ristolainen stands 6’4″–and offensive upside that teams covet, he has also been routinely derided by more analytical measures. Even in some of the traditional stats like +/-, Ristolainen’s overall impact on the game has been poor, registering a whopping -163 over his 542-game NHL career. That entire career has been spent in Buffalo, where things haven’t gone well since he made his debut 2013, but at least part of that failure has to fall at the feet of Ristolainen, who has averaged nearly 24 minutes a night throughout his career.
Perhaps with a more reasonable role and strong partner those numbers can improve, but it is still a staggering price for the Flyers to pay after jettisoning Gostisbehere yesterday. The Flyers have now completely made over their defense corps in short order, acquiring Ryan Ellis and Ristolainen while shipping out Hagg, Gostisbehere, and Philippe Myers. The two newcomers now join Ivan Provorov, Justin Braun, RFA Travis Sanheim and prospect Cameron York as the likely top-six in Philadelphia next season, pending any additional moves.
For Buffalo, getting a pick in the first half of this year’s first-round is a successful haul for a player that was nearing the end of his time in a Sabres uniform. It wouldn’t have made much sense to re-sign Ristolainen as an unrestricted free agent next summer, and his comments in the past suggest he may not have even been open to it. With Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart also reportedly on the market, the Sabres could quickly amass quite the collection of draft picks and future pieces to build around.
It also confirms that it was the correct decision to protect Ristolainen in the expansion draft, even if it did end up costing them young defenseman William Borgen. The return for Ristolainen, which includes a player in Hagg that is a legitimate NHL option, is obviously much more important.
In Hagg, who has one year left on his own contract before unrestricted free agency and holds a $1.6MM cap hit, the Sabres potentially have another piece they can flip at some point. The 26-year-old has played 236 games at the NHL level including 34 this year for the Flyers, mostly in a depth role. He recorded just five points, but was still a physical presence on the back end, tallying 100 hits in those 34 contests.
After paying that price to get him, the question now becomes whether the Flyers will extend Ristolainen and at what cost. The team is already locked in long-term with Ellis and Provorov, who combine for $13MM through at least 2024-25. With so many other multi-year commitments already on the books at forward, the Flyers will need to be careful how they dole out any money this summer.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
dayum!
but jeez that’s a bit pricy
@DarkSide830 – I’m with you. This move from a GM that simply gave away Gostisbehere, and now is overpaying for the OK-but-not-that-great Risto. (insert head shaking emoji here)
Fletcher is allergic to early round draft picks
Why give up a haul for a guy on a one year deal?
Gross overpay for a guy who bleeds goals.
The fact that Buffalo wouldn’t have taken Ghost, 13th overall, and 2 seconds for Risto is a severe indictment on Ghost’s value with that contract. And that’s already a major overpay for Philly.
True, but Buffalo just didn’t want to commit that kind of cash to somebody they don’t see a fit for at the moment. Shame on Philly for not finding a better fit that didn’t have something/anything coming back.
Looks like Buffalo is finally in a total rebuild.
I think its a lateral move. Risto needed a change of scenery and they got a heck of a return for him.
How is ot lateral? They shipped a guy who had one year left on his contract for a ‘heck of a return’. It’s a good, rebuilding move.
Jackets are huge winners here if Risto is worth Hagg, 1, and 2
Who do they have thats any good?
Their own right handed defenseman with only 1 year left on his contract. Seth Jones.
Chuck Fletcher always has interesting moves to make. As a Rangers fan who is friends with an obnoxious Flyers, I like the overpay but as a hockey fan I’m optimistic for Ristolainen to have a renaissance of sorts
1 down, 2 to go. Let’s go Adams. That was a good deal. Keep them coming.
Risto needed a change of scenery and fresh start. He’s still young enough to change the outlook of his career. I’ve liked him since day 1, hate to see him go, but with the direction the Sabres are heading it had to be done. At this point go FULL rebuild mode and move anything of value. Was just saying 10 minutes ago I’d rather keep Eichel, but if Adams did this for Risto, I’d love to see what he gets for Rhino and Eichel. This will be a train wreck for a couple more years but if handled right JUST ONCE we could a guy have relevant hockey in Buffalo again!
Overpay? Yeah, but they got the guy they needed.
The part where the Flyers (and Rangers) can get better makes Hextall’s moves so far all the worse.
I’ve slagged his hire and pretty much every move he’s made (and rightfully so, they were bad) but Adams did well here. If they move Eichel and Reinhart, too, half of tonight’s picks could become Sabres.
If risto is worth a depth player a 1st and 2nd what would leafs get for rielly
Wow. If Fletcher just got destroyed like this by Kevyn Adams, how do I evaluate David Poile?
I’m curious to see what he is like outside of Buffalo. The analytics community likes to dunk on him but I wonder how much those numbers can be weighed down by playing a on a bad team his whole career. Sure he might have been part of the problem, but that was him having to be “the guy” in Buffalo for so long. He might be bad as a number one defenceman but be very good as a number 3.
This deal makes no sense. If you wanted to retain a bad defenseman on a bad contract, you could’ve just kept Ghost and retained your picks. Sure Ghost has 2 years left on his contract to Risto’s 1, but for this deal to make any sense in the eyes of the fans, you now have to sign this guy to a new contract to justify losing this kind of draft capitol. I’m no GM (I’ll stick to being a musician) but this is a head scratcher
Ahhh, I sure miss the pre-cap NHL, where Ed Snider just signed anyone he wanted but with limited success.