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Rasmus Ristolainen

Metro Notes: Flyers, Rust, Chatfield

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Earlier today, the Philadelphia Flyers announced a plethora of injuries, revealing that Rasmus Ristolainen and Jamie Drysdale would both be out week-to-week with upper-body injuries and that Travis Konecny would be out day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Still holding strong in their attempt to make the playoffs, these injuries could impact the Flyers’ competitiveness moving forward over their next several games.

Not only will Philadelphia be playing without some of their regular players for the next couple of games, but it will take a potential trade chip off the board in Ristolainen. Although he does carry a relatively expensive cap hit of $5.1MM until after the 2026-27 NHL season, Ristolainen has appeared in some trade chatter over the last several weeks. Dealing with some injury concerns earlier in the season, Ristolainen has responded with one goal and four points over 31 games with the Flyers, averaging 16:41 of ice time per game.

The major concern, however, will be with Drysdale, who is building an extensive injury history in only his fourth season in the NHL. Last season, Drysdale infamously lost the entirety of the year after eight games for a shoulder injury that would require surgery and did miss two months of action earlier this season when he was still a member of the Anaheim Ducks with a lower-body injury.

Other Metro notes:

  • Matt Vensel of Post-Gazette Sports is reporting that Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust will be out week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Falling further and further out of contention, the loss of Rust for the next few weeks will certainly not help Pittsburgh rise in the standings. Potentially becoming one of the deadline’s more important sellers, losing both Rust and Jake Guentzel over the last few days may ultimately force the Penguins’ hand in their eventual deadline approach.
  • Missing the team’s last four games with an upper-body injury, Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield is set to return tonight according to the Hurricanes’ Editorial Content Producer, Walt Ruff. Chatfield has been solid for Carolina this season, scoring five goals and 14 points in 49 games, while holding a strong CorsiFor% of 58.4%.

Flyers Place Rasmus Ristolainen On IR, Recall Bobby Brink

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The Philadelphia Flyers have placed defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. The team recently shared that Ristolainen will miss at least two or three weeks, and will undergo a procedure to determine the full extent of his injury. There is no clarity on when he may return, though The Fourth Period’s Anthony Di Marco shared that Ristolainen will miss significant time.

This news comes at a terrible time for the Flyers, who recently learned that Jamie Drysdale will miss extended time after taking a heavy hit on Sunday. He’s now facing an injury to the same shoulder that he injured last season when a torn labrum limited him to just eight games all season. The Flyers are once again in injury turmoil, carrying just enough defensemen to ice a full lineup.

Philadelphia has also recalled forward Bobby Brink. Brink has played out his rookie NHL season this year, recording 18 points, six penalty minutes, and a +7 in 38 games with Philadelphia. He has dominated the AHL since being assigned in late January, scoring six goals and 11 points in 11 games. He’s the only player on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms scoring at a point-per-game pace this season.

The AHL isn’t unfamiliar to Brink, who scored 28 points in 41 games with the Phantoms last season. It was his first full year as a professional hockey player, though he did play in 10 NHL games after the end of the University of Denver’s 2021-22 season. Still, last year marked an important year of growth for the young forward. He’ll now eye yet another opportunity in the NHL, looking to improve on his modest first half of the season.

Rasmus Ristolainen To Undergo Upper-Body Procedure, Out Multiple Weeks

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Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen will be out a minimum of two to three weeks before undergoing a procedure to address a minor upper-body injury, Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reports Wednesday. The Fourth Period’s Anthony Di Marco was the first to report that Ristolainen’s injury would keep him out for a significant amount of time.

Ristolainen, 29, was drumming up interest from multiple teams ahead of the March 8 trade deadline, including the Maple Leafs. Today’s news puts his availability for a deal in doubt, though, and he’s now likely to remain a Flyer until the offseason. After undergoing the procedure later this month, it’s unclear how long Ristolainen will be out, Kurz says. The Flyers also added Wednesday that Ristolainen has no timetable for a return and is still being checked.

Despite a lack of point production (one goal, three assists in 31 games), the 2013 eighth-overall pick is perhaps having the strongest defensive showing of his 11-year NHL career. His expected +4.9 rating is a career-high, and he’s managed to control a majority of expected goals when paired with youngster Yegor Zamula at even strength, per MoneyPuck.

Nonetheless, his $5.1MM cap hit makes him a difficult asset to move, given he’s best suited for a two-way, third-pairing role at this stage in his career. His bump in defensive adeptness since arriving in Philadelphia via a 2021 trade from the Sabres has also come with a significant decrease in minutes, now averaging just 16:41 per game this year compared to his 22:50 career average. Add in that he’s signed through 2027, and it becomes a tough task for a team to swallow his contract, no matter how much improvement he’s shown in his game.

Ristolainen had to wait until late November to make his season debut after an undisclosed injury cost him the first 20 games of the season. He’s played in three of Philadelphia’s last six games due to a healthy scratch, illness, and the current upper-body injury, which held him out of Monday’s game against the Coyotes.

With the Flyers’ defense otherwise at full health, head coach John Tortorella has opted to dress seven defensemen, giving oft-scratched veteran Marc Staal a chance to play while winger Tyson Foerster is sidelined with a short-term lower-body injury. That ailment is expected to keep Foerster out “a few extra days,” GM Daniel Brière said today, meaning he’ll miss Thursday’s game against the Maple Leafs but not much longer.

Metropolitan Notes: Pesce, Schmid, Foerster, Ristolainen

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Carolina Hurricanes reporter Walt Ruff writes that Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce has returned to team practice after missing the last two games with an illness. The 29-year-old hasn’t played since last Tuesday and is mired in a seven-game point drought in what has been a disappointing offensive season for the pending unrestricted free agent. Pesce has just three goals and four assists in 41 games after posting a career-high 30 points last season in 82 games. His defensive metrics are still fantastic as Pesce remains the Hurricanes’ best option for the difficult defensive matchups against elite competition.

Pesce could suit up tomorrow night when the Hurricanes travel to Dallas to take on the Stars in their first of three games on the road. Carolina currently sits second in the Metropolitan Division with a 30-16-5 record and has begun to pull away from the teams behind them as they are 7-3 in their last ten games.

In other Metropolitan notes:

  • The New Jersey Devils have recalled goaltender Akira Schmid from the Utica Comets of the AHL. Schmid dressed in 15 games for the Devils earlier in the season but struggled to hold onto an NHL job with a 5-7-1 record, a 3.26 goals-against average and an .893 save percentage. Schmid will serve as the likely backup to Nico Daws while Vitek Vanecek is sidelined due to a lower-body injury. Schmid was assigned to the AHL a month ago and has struggled in 12 games going 3-5-4 with an .885 save percentage and a 3.58 goals-against average.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers are dealing with a couple of minor injuries as defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen and forward Tyson Foerster will be sidelined until at least the weekend. Ristolainen has an upper-body injury and Flyers GM Daniel Briere is hoping he will be back by the weekend. Foerster has a lower-body injury and Briere is also hoping he can play this weekend as well. Ristolainen has struggled this season and has just a goal and three assists in 31 games while Foerster has posted career highs with 10 goals and 11 assists in 52 games. The Flyers take on the Devils in the Stadium Series at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on Saturday night.

Snapshots: Giordano, Timmins, Romanov, Ristolainen

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In tonight’s Battle of Ontario, the Toronto Maple Leafs will be without a few notable defensemen as David Alter of The Hockey News reports that Mark Giordano will be out with a lower-body injury, and Conor Timmins is out with an illness. Alter did point out that Giordano is listed as day-to-day, but could be out longer as the injury was sustained in the team’s most recent game on Wednesday.

This news likely means that either William Lagesson or Maxime Lajoie will draw into the lineup this evening, with the latter having been recalled on an emergency loan yesterday. Of the two, Lagesson has certainly had more opportunity at the NHL level, playing in 21 games for the Maple Leafs this season compared to four for Lajoie.

Whatever the case may be, the depth of Toronto’s defensive core will be tested during their matchup tonight against the Ottawa Senators. Although his production has fallen significantly since his Norris Trophy-winning season of 2018-19, Giordano has been more than reliable for the Maple Leafs this season, scoring one goal and six points in 34 games, averaging just over 17 minutes of ice time per game.

Other snapshots:

  • The New York Islanders will be without defenseman Alexander Romanov this afternoon, as the team announced he is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Not much of an offensive threat from the blue line, Romanov has nevertheless been solid for the Islanders this season, skating alongside Noah Dobson at the top of the team’s defensive core. In 51 games for New York this year, Romanov has scored five goals and 13 points, producing a +15 rating while averaging over 22 minutes of ice time per game.
  • Rasmus Ristolainen will be back in the lineup tonight for the Philadelphia Flyers after missing the team’s last game due to illness (X Link). Struggling to live up to his relatively large contract in Philadelphia, Ristolainen has only skated in 30 games for the Flyers this season, missing much of the beginning of the season with an undisclosed injury. Averaging the lowest time on ice of his career up to this point, Ristolainen has scored one goal and four points for Philadelphia this year.

Maple Leafs Have Shown Interest In Rasmus Ristolainen

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Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is now healthy after missing the first 20 games of the season with a lower-body injury. The Maple Leafs have shown interest in the 29-year-old in their efforts to add to their blueline, reports Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

The 2013 eighth-overall pick has never been a beacon of defensive acumen throughout his 687 games with the Sabres and Flyers. However, his advanced defensive metrics saw major improvement last season, bringing his on-ice value closer to what you’d expect from a player carrying a $5.1MM cap hit.

After sitting in the bottom tenth percentile of overall even-strength defensive impact during the end of his time in Buffalo and his first season with the Flyers after a 2021 trade, Ristolainen’s defensive play rocketed up to the 87th percentile of all NHL defenders, per wins against replacement data from public analyst Patrick Bacon. His pairing with Nick Seeler last season put up remarkable defensive numbers, allowing less than two expected goals against per 60 minutes on an otherwise defensively weak Flyers team, per MoneyPuck.

In a small sample this season, the trend looks to continue. His partner since returning from injury has been veteran Marc Staal, and the two have controlled a staggering 70.3% of expected goals together – the third-best of any defense pairing this season with at least 30 minutes played together.

That being said, this increase in defensive impact has also come with a significant decrease in usage. In 2021-22, his first season in Philadelphia, Ristolainen logged nearly 19 minutes per game at even strength. Last season, when his possession quality numbers spiked, that number dropped to nearly 16 minutes per game. This year, he’s averaging just 14:30 per game at even strength through five games.

Needless to say, it’s apparent Ristolainen’s sudden increase in value is a little bit of smoke and mirrors. He’s putting up these numbers against much easier competition than the minutes he shouldered early on in his career. His analytics suggest he can be a high-end third-pair defenseman but not much more. Given he’s played a similarly reduced role this season and has just one assist since returning from injury, it doesn’t make a ton of sense for a cap-strapped team such as Toronto to take on his inflated cap hit, which runs through 2027.

Considering the Flyers aren’t in a position to offload assets for less than market value, a trade makes even less sense for the Maple Leafs, given the significant return they’d have to put on the table. As Friedman notes, the Flyers are playing decent hockey, sitting ninth in the Eastern Conference with a .560 points percentage and remaining in the playoff race as the holiday season rolls around. That’s much better than anyone expected, and as such, Friedman doesn’t believe the Flyers are actively shopping Ristolainen.

While having T.J. Brodie, Timothy Liljegren, and Ristolainen would be a strong complement of right-side defenders, the Maple Leafs simply don’t have the financial flexibility to make a Ristolainen deal worth it for the limited role he would play – or, at least, the limited role he should play to be effective. Limiting chances against during 5-on-5 play is an area of need for Toronto (they’re below the league average in that area), but there are better targets to pursue that can shoulder more minutes with more success.

Take Calgary Flames pending UFA Chris Tanev, for example, as a better bet to improve the team’s defensive play while shouldering over 20 minutes per game. They’ve demonstrated interest in him as well, and he’s higher on their wish list by all accounts. As Friedman also mentions, the Maple Leafs would make a Tanev deal with the confidence that they can extend him given his hometown roots and his connection with ex-Flames and current Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving.

Flyers Activate Rasmus Ristolainen

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Saturday: Ristolainen has officially been taken off LTIR, the team announced.

Wednesday: The Flyers could soon activate defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen off LTIR, Dylan H. Robillard of Olde City Sports Network reports. However, despite returning to practice in full-contact gear yesterday, the right-shot Finn will not enter the lineup tonight versus the Islanders.

Ristolainen, 29, had missed the entire 2023-24 season up to this point with an undisclosed injury. The Flyers didn’t list him as out until October 9 – just one day before the regular season started – making him a rather unexpected absence in the lineup to kick off the campaign.

Now in the second season of a five-year, $25.5MM extension signed with the Flyers in March of 2022, the much-maligned 2013 top-ten pick had one of his best seasons in recent memory in 2022-23. Some reduced usage proved positive for his defensive impacts, skating under 20 minutes per game for the first time since his rookie season. He also notched three goals and 20 points in 74 contests.

While they may not be numbers worthy of his cap hit, Ristolainen remains an NHL-caliber player and should provide competition among the Flyers’ veterans on the backend – namely Marc Staal, who is gearing up to return from a similarly lengthy injury-related absence.

However, Ristolainen’s early-season absence has allowed other players to flourish. Nick Seeler and Yegor Zamula have the best plus-minus ratings on the team with a +10 and +11 mark despite both playing under 17 minutes a game. Their success on the defensive side of the puck, along with Travis Sanheim’s and Sean Walker’s standout play to begin the season, leaves Flyers head coach John Tortorella with some tough decisions on how to utilize Ristolainen moving forward.

With an open spot on the 23-man roster and ample cap space, the Flyers do not need to make a corresponding move to take Ristolainen off LTIR.

Metropolitan Notes: Kane, Hischier, Ristolainen

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ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported today on The Drop that unrestricted free agent forward Patrick Kane reportedly would like to make another run with the New York Rangers but at this point Rangers general manager Chris Drury has been apprehensive due to the team’s lack of cap space as well as the chemistry they’ve build under head coach Peter Laviolette.

Kane was unhappy with last season and his inability to be healthy due to his hip injury. According to Kaplan, Kane felt like he played most of the season on one leg and never had a chance to be an impact player.

Kaplan didn’t rule out the possibility of Kane returning to the Rangers but said that if he were to return it would be similar to last season when Kane essentially forced a trade to the Rangers. Obviously, this wouldn’t be a trade, but if Kane was willing to take a low salary, he could force the Rangers hand as the upside of signing the three-time cup winner might be too much for the Rangers to ignore.

In other Metropolitan notes:

  • New Jersey Devils reporter Amanda Stein tweeted that center Nico Hischier will travel with the club but will not dress in tomorrow night’s game against the Detroit Red Wings. The 24-year-old returned to practice yesterday signalling that his return could come soon as he battles his way back from an upper-body injury he suffered on October 27th in a game against the Buffalo Sabres. The Devils have struggled with Hischier out of the lineup, going 4-5 in his absence. The 2017 first-overall pick struggled to start the year with just two goals in seven games but had a career year last year with 80 points in 81 games.
  • Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia is reporting that Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen was in a regular jersey at practice today, indicating that he can take contact. Ristolainen’s return to a regular practice jersey signals that he is close to making his season debut for the Flyers as he has been on the shelf since suffering an undisclosed injury during training camp. When he is healthy enough to play, the Flyers will need to activate him off LTIR and make room available on their active roster which will likely mean a demotion for a player such as Louis Belpedio.

Flyers Notes: Staal, Hart, Ristolainen

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PHLY Sportswriter Charlie O’Connor tweeted that Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Marc Staal is very close to returning to the Flyers lineup but will not return for tomorrow night’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes. Staal has missed 11 straight games with what was being called an upper-body injury, but he confirmed to the media today that he was suffering from a rib injury.

Due to the length of his absence, Staal can be activated off injured reserve at any point, and it appears from Staal’s perspective that a weekend return is possible, although the ultimate decision would fall to the Flyers training staff.

Staal has dressed in just four games for the Flyers this season after signing a one-year $1.1MM deal with the team in the offseason. He has no points in those four games and has averaged over 15 minutes of ice time per game.

In other Flyers notes:

  • Sam Carchidi tweeted that Flyers goaltender Carter Hart should be good to return to the net for tomorrow night’s game against Carolina. Hart has been sidelined with several different issues which have led to a five-game absence. Hart left the game during Philadelphia’s 5-2 loss to Buffalo on November 1st and proceeded to miss the next three games with a mid-body injury before he came down with food poisoning and missed two additional games. Hart has been good for the Flyers thus far this season with a 4-3-0 record with a 2.52 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage.
  • Carchidi also tweeted that Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is getting closer to a return as he practiced with the team for the first time today. The 29-year-old has yet to dress in a game this season as he has been dealing with a lower-body injury and suffered a setback in the middle of October that kept him off the ice for nearly a month. Ristolainen had three goals and 17 assists last season in 74 games while registering 162 hits and 142 blocked shots.

Metropolitan Notes: Ristolainen, Pelech, Pacioretty

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The Flyers have placed defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen on LTIR, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link).  The move was necessary to afford yesterday’s recall of goaltender Cal Petersen.  Ristolainen has yet to play this season due to an undisclosed injury, one that he had a setback in recovering from last month.  The LTIR placement can be made retroactively; assuming that was done here, he will have already missed the required 10 games and 24 days which means he will be eligible to be activated as soon as he’s cleared to return.  The 29-year-old had 20 points, 142 blocks, and 162 hits in 70 games with Philadelphia last season.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • Defenseman Adam Pelech is dealing with a lower-body injury and won’t play tonight against Carolina, notes Cory Wright of the Islanders’ team site. The 29-year-old left Thursday’s victory over Washington early in the first period.  However, Pelech did skate before practice today (but left before the team’s morning skate) which is an encouraging sign for a possible short-term absence.  The blueliner has gotten off to a bit of a slow start this season with just a single point in nine games while once again logging over 20 minutes a night.
  • Capitals winger Max Pacioretty skated for the second time today as he continues to work his way back from a torn Achilles, relays Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network (Twitter link). The veteran suffered the injury in just his fifth game last season after working his way back from a torn Achilles.  Pacioretty inked a one-year deal with Washington this summer, one that carries a $2MM base salary and $2MM in games played bonuses that will be fully payable at the 20-game mark.

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