What the Philadelphia Flyers are getting from Rasmus Ristolainen right now is essentially what the old regime was hoping to see when they traded for him at the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.
Looking to make big changes to the core, locker room, and general atmosphere, the Flyers traded for the Finnish defenseman from the Buffalo Sabres for a first round pick, second round pick, and Robert Hägg. It was reported that Chuck Fletcher was the winner of a bidding war with several teams interested in the expiring contract of the former first round pick.
Ristolainen enjoyed a successful start to his career after being selected with the 8th overall pick during the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. After just 4 points in 34 games during his rookie year and 20 points in 78 games during his sophomore season, Ristolainen recorded four straight 40+ point seasons and was on his way towards a fifth had it not been for COVID-19 postponing the rest of the 2019-20 season.
Plus-minus was never his best stat and it didn’t help that he played for a downtrodden Sabres team – that still hasn’t made the postseason since 2011. However, 2020-21 was not kind to Ristolainen and he started to lose positioning in the hierarchy, even dating back to 2019-20. Brandon Montour and Rasmus Dahlin became the top pair and Ristolainen posted his lowest points total since his rookie season with 18 (in 49 games).
With an expiring contract and the Sabres looking to rebuild more so than retool – at least when it came to Ristolainen – they shipped him ahead of the draft and were able to secure a pretty considerable haul in return for what was a depreciating asset. The Flyers believed they could turn things around and he wasn’t the only reclamation project that either busted out or took a very long time to manage.
The Flyers just never regrouped under Alain Vigneault after their scintillating 2019-20 season. Former players even chimed in that the head coach completely changed the playbook once the first round began against the Montréal Canadiens, despite a perfect round robin tournament and an impressive run into March of that season.
So it came as no surprise that the Flyers struggled in 2020-21 and once more in 2021-22 until he was fired. They played better under the interim head coach, Mike Yeo, but they needed a new voice, a better leader, and an injection of spirit in the locker room – all of which was delivered with John Tortorella.
Ristolainen is no longer the power play quarterbacking, point producing, slap-shot booming player that he once was, but he has transformed his game into being a solid shutdown defenseman with a lot of bite under Tortorella and his coaching staff.
Injuries have been a problem since his arrival to Philadelphia but he has outperformed the early part of his tenure over the last few seasons and his 2024-25 season has brought about a lot of interest from within and other teams.
Compared to the 245 points in 542 games in Buffalo, Ristolainen has just 7 goals and 42 points in 184 games for the Flyers. To put that into perspective, he had four seasons of 41+ points. However his plus-minus is pretty good for a defenseman on a bad team, he’s blocking shots and finishing checks at a high rate, and he has become a key cog for a revolutionized penalty kill that sits in the upper echelon of the NHL once again.
What this hot start means for Ristolainen and the Flyers is anyone’s guess, but if they were to peruse the trade market, they would find a lot of suitors.
Anthony Di Marco of the Daily Faceoff mentioned how the tides were turning last year as well and teams like Toronto and Vancouver were inquiring about his services before he got injured ahead of the trade deadline. The Flyers remained mum about the injury but after missing the final two months of the season, they announced he underwent successful surgery on his triceps.
Fast forward to the new season and Ristolainen has once again brought his value up with his strong play and increased role while Cam York is sidelined. Ristolainen has a goal and an 2 assists, a -2 rating, 23 hits, and 14 blocked shots while averaging 23:03 TOI. On the season, he’s averaging 20:10 TOI with 23 blocked shots and 33 hits.
He carries a $5.1 million price tag until the end of the 2026-27 season but combined with his on-ice intangibles, how badly GMs covet his type of defenseman, the rising salary cap, and his improved play; Ristolainen is becoming a catch again, akin to how he was being coveted in 2021.
Di Marco also mentioned that last year, teams were more interested if the Flyers retained a chunk of his salary but with a little less term now and the salary cap’s continual spike, he can be had without any retention. Furthermore, the asking price of a first round pick or of equal value of what they spent back in 2021 is back on the table.
Big bruising defensemen are always hot on the market – just look at Joel Edmundson, David Savard, Chris Tanev, and Nikita Zadorov to name a few. The Flyers could get a fantastic haul in return, but the question inherently comes back to their current rebuilding plans.
We’re all aware that theoretically, the Flyers are currently rebuilding; they have said so countless times and the “New Era of Orange” was the mantra of the rebuild. However, I think it’s safe to say that a lot of the fanbase is left scratching their head or wondering what their plans really are and how they are undertaking the supposed rebuild – because it’s certainly not a traditional one.
The core is essentially established and they have done their due diligence in extending the players they believe are going to be the cornerstones of this rebuild. They have perused the trade market for some players like Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee but for the time being they remain intact and play everyday roles for the club.
What the Flyers do with players like Ristolainen and Scott Laughton will be far more crucial and will essentially pin the tail on their proverbial donkey. Moving them now makes the most sense if you’re looking to the future and want to accumulate as many assets as possible – and quality ones at that. Laughton only has one year remaining on his contract after this season, so it truly makes it a make or break year in terms of asset management.
There’s also a world where they keep players like Ristolainen along for the ride to ensure they have able-bodied players to plug in the lineup for the foreseeable future.
Laughton could have been fetched for a first round pick in 2023 as an example, but the management and coaching staff are absolutely enamoured with their Swiss Army knife. Let’s also not forget that they extended Nick Seeler for four years and had extension talks with Sean Walker before his trade to Colorado.
The season is still young but if Ristolainen keeps this up, he will be one of the more popular names come this year’s trade deadline, much like Seeler and Walker last year. If he is kept around for another season, it wouldn’t be the end of the world, since it would technically bring his value up a bit considering other teams wouldn’t be on the hook for more than 2 seasons of $5.1 million.
Nevertheless, as we focus towards the now, the Flyers’ patient ways have been rewarded as they have a physical, top-4 minute-munching defenseman that plays Tortorella’s style to a tee.
