Last March, the Philadelphia Flyers made a trade with the Colorado Avalanche. Daniel Brière sent Sean Walker and a 2026 fifth-round pick to the Avalanche for a 2025 first-round pick and Ryan Johansen.
Johansen competed in 63GP (13G, 10A) last season.
Then, the Flyers waived Johansen. The point of the trade was to get a first-round pick for Walker. Johansen wasn’t a part of the plans in Philadelphia. No other team claimed him at a $4mil/AAV cap hit (50% retention from $8mil/AAV per the trade).
“Probably not. To be honest, probably not. We will see. We’ll see if we can give him [Johansen] a chance to go somewhere else. We haven’t decided what the future looks like for him yet.” – Daniel Brière; 3/7/2024
Allegedly, Johansen was injured. He played every possible game during the regular season with Colorado, but his injured status prevented him from reporting to the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The murkiness regarding Johansen and his injury never cleared, and the Flyers terminated his contract, citing a ‘material breach.’
Kurt Overhardt, an NHL agent for players like Johansen, Walker, and Cutter Gauthier, provided a statement. In his defense of Johansen, noting his injury as ‘severe’ and ‘requiring extensive surgery,’ Overhardt shared Johansen worked in ‘good faith’ with Philadelphia and called the contract termination ‘disappointing.’ Johansen contacted the NHLPA and filed a grievance. In response, the Flyers released a statement concluding with a ‘no further comment at this time,’ after waiving Johansen for termination. Today, Johansen told his story during the grievance hearing.
During his last game with the Avalanche, Johansen skated for 10:58TOI. Last season, Johansen averaged 13:39TOI.
The severity, or even the integrity, of the injury is questionable. How did Johansen get injured? When did the injury take place? How did the injury go undetected between Colorado and Philadelphia? Johansen likely filed a grievance because the termination meant he wouldn’t receive his salary.
Another team looking forward to the outcome of this hearing is the Nashville Predators, who could alleviate $4mil in cap space.
A suggested theory is that the Flyers’ training staff didn’t detect the potentially conjured injury before Johansen learned about his assignment to the Phantoms. No lingering injuries ailed Johansen on the Avalanche. The outcome of the grievance hearing will require more time to reach a determination. If Philadelphia wins the ruling, validating the termination of Johansen, the cap situation will remain the same.
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