Flyers center Ryan Johansen isn’t expected to play before his contract expires at the end of the 2024-25 season, GM Daniel Brière told reporters Friday (including Jon Bailey of Philly Hockey Now).
Johansen was acquired from the Avalanche as part of the Sean Walker trade before the trade deadline, and he was waived the following day for assignment to AHL Lehigh Valley. He informed the Flyers after the trade that he was dealing with a hip injury, which was subsequently confirmed by the team’s medical staff, resulting in his AHL assignment being reversed. The 31-year-old remained on the active roster for the rest of the season but did not play in a game.
Brière said that he didn’t ever envision Johansen suiting up for the Flyers after the trade, although that was before he had knowledge of the injury. It’s a long-term absence, as implied by Brière’s full statement today, which means the team can’t execute a buyout on the final season of his contract:
All I can tell you is I don’t expect him to be back. I don’t know, exactly, the situation. We’re dealing on the medical side with him. The thing for him is getting him back to be able to play at this time. He doesn’t think he can play hockey. I wish I had a better answer for you. We need to get him better to figure out if there’s even a remote chance of him dressing for the organization.
Johansen’s contract has been moved twice in the past calendar year. Entering this season at an $8MM cap hit for two more years with the Predators, Nashville traded him to Colorado last summer at 50% retention. The Avs hoped he would be able to plug their second-line center vacancy behind Nathan MacKinnon, but the former 71-point scorer struggled mightily in the role, posting just 13 goals and 23 points in 63 games before the team cut ties and traded him and his reduced $4MM cap hit to Philadelphia. Johansen didn’t miss any time in Colorado with his apparently severe hip injury.
He was a negative possession player during his time in Colorado and averaged only 13:39 per game, although he was still strong in the faceoff dot with a 53.1 FOW%. Still, his offensive production and average ice time was lower than all four of the Flyers’ regular centers (Sean Couturier, Morgan Frost, Scott Laughton, Ryan Poehling) last season, and he wouldn’t have had a fit on the team even if healthy.
The Flyers may be unable to rid themselves of the final year of Johansen’s contract entirely. But if his hip injury stretches into next season as expected, they can place his $4MM cap hit on long-term injured reserve and gain cap relief that way, much like they did with defenseman Ryan Ellis’ $6.25MM cap hit this season. Ellis, acquired from Nashville as part of a three-team trade in 2021, had five points in four games for the Flyers before sustaining a career-ending pelvic injury.
Quitter
His agent is the same as Gauthier
@Black Ace57 – Yep, it is. Good Ol’ Kurt Overcharge.
I would just say he’s an agent being an agent, but he is such a self righteous putz about all his lies that I don’t think he deserves the benefit of the doubt. Just look up his drama with Frank Seravalli releasing a big press release calling him a liar spreading fake news only for Frank to be proven right shortly after.
@Black Ace57 — From talk on a Canadian radio station, I initially thought the hosts were exaggerating a little about KO. Then, Overcharge’s actions proved those hosts were almost holding back on slamming him. “The Silver-Haired Millennial” has earned his reputation from doing his due diligence on whatever he writes or discusses on radio/TV.
Very strange. Either Colorado knew about the injury and asked him to hide it before a trade, or Johansen knew about it and never told Colorado. Not a great look either way.
Would think a pro would come clean about an injury the moment he finds out he’s getting traded. Clown move.
isn’t that what he did?
What a weird situation. It feels like someone’s getting screwed, I’m just not sure whom. If the injury’s new, it’s PHL, even with cap relief. If the injury’s chronic, it’s kind of the Predators. They’d probably rather have stashed him on LTIR instead of eating the buyout. It sounds like no one is disputing that it’s a real injury, but it’s always felt like Johansen had a little dog in him. This episode won’t help that perception.
I don’t think this is about the injury at all – Johansen played the day before he was traded out of Colorado. In fact, I’m not sure he missed a game at all for the Avs – he just didn’t play that well.
So either Johansen doesn’t want to go to the AHL at this stage of his career (understandable), while also wanting to get paid (understandable, though not particularly honorable), or Philly doesn’t want to play an aging, losing his effectiveness guy when they have a ton of young talent that should get ice time, but taking the contract helped their cap situation at the time, if not in the future (also understandable).
Either way, it seems like everyone just said ‘meh, let’s make up/exagerrate an injury and you can go away in a year.’
It totally isn’t. RoJo has beef with Torts, and rather than trying to settle it, he’d just prefer to not play.
I think the team trading the player should be responsible for disclosing injuries when dealing players …. It’s not like the player is invloved in trade discussions… sounds to me like he was traded and told Briere he’s injured. Doesn’t seem fair to blame the guy
Flyers had the ability to make the trade contingent on Johansen passing a physical. They evidently did not
Obviously the 1st rd pick was the key in the deal so getting a seemingly healthy veteran (played all season up to trade) thrown in wasn’t a deal stopper. If it were a minor injury it wouldn’t be a big deal to miss a month or more BUT an injury that he can’t suit up immediately AND the entire following yr? Johansen looks bad here & it hurts the flyers a bit.
So he didn’t miss a game all year with the Avs but now can’t play at all due to a severe injury?
Somethings amuck here.
This justifies a new island — Johansen Island, just across the bay from Robidas Island. You can only get there by those weird little pedal boats.