As the 2025 trade deadline breaks on the horizon, all eyes turn to the Philadelphia Flyers and how they anticipate on playing their cards. Their biggest trade chip is defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who’s in the middle of a breakout season at 30-years-old. His improved performance has not only boosted his trade value, but has upped the Flyers’ desire to keep him. Ristolainen has two years left on his current contract at $5.1 million. So should the Flyers keep or trade their right-handed defenseman?
Keep
Ristolainen has slowly but surely improved quite a bit under the watchful eye of Tortorella over the last two-plus seasons, and his play in 2024-25 seems to be the apex of what he can bring. He’s physical and he’s responsible, the kind of stuff hockey wet dreams are made of for coaches.
One of the biggest things Ristolainen has going for him is the fact that he’s a right-handed defenseman, one of only two natural righties (Jamie Drysdale being the other) the Flyers have on the roster. Everyone else, including Travis Sanheim, who is place-holding as the top RHD, are all left shots. His status as a top four RHD is an invaluable resource to a team that lacks any real depth at the position.
The strength of the defense is really all the team has right now. Taking Ristolainen out of the equation, even if it’s for prime value in a trade, may do more harm than the draft pick is worth.
Trade
Ever since Ristolainen showed up in Philly, there’s been talk of unlocking “playoff Risto” a version of the defenseman that is supposedly built for the NHL postseason, something he hasn’t experienced yet in his 12th professional season. Whether or not that rendition of Ristolainen lies within has yet to be determined, but having a big physical defenseman who can grind opponents down during a seven game series can be a major contributing factor towards postseason success and it’s why other playoff teams are doing their research.
It’s the reason why the Flyers want to keep him (despite the fact they haven’t made the playoffs in four years and are on pace to miss again in 2024-25), but it’s also the biggest reason he’s drawing trade interest.
Most playoff teams would be willing to pay up for a solid veteran right-handed defenseman who brings the physicality. Ristolainen’s contract is going to potentially throw a wrench into a smooth transaction, but there’s no reason to think that some team out there won’t pay up for his services at the wild west of the deadline. The may even be able to get equal value to the high price they paid for him a few years ago. If they can get value without retaining big bucks (or ideally any) of his contract, it could be a worthwhile trade no matter the repercussions to the rest of the defense or the team’s playoff hopes.
Conclusion
There was a nuclear meltdown from the Flyers’ fanbase when Chuck Fletcher inked Ristolainen to his extension in March of 2022, and he’s become one of the more polarizing figures on the roster since, slowly winning over the fans with his uptick in play.
The Flyers are at a strange crossroads with Ristolainen. He’s playing the best hockey of his career while the Flyers are on pace to miss the playoffs yet again. Theoretically, it means they should be moving him at the trade deadline, but the two remaining years on his contract are not going to make that an easy feat, and dealing one of the few players on the roster with net-positive trade value for less than they can get isn’t smart business.
But keeping him past the deadline and having his value potentially fall off a cliff is definitely the luck of the Flyers. And moving his cap space in order to re-sign Cam York and Tyson Foerster is a very real reality they may just have to deal with at some point, be it the deadline or offseason thanks to the disaster or a job Briere has done with the salary cap elsewhere.
Briere’s negotiation skills seem to be rather poor. He evidently only wants to settle for highway robbery in trades, something that has been seen in other situations like Scott Laughton, who they’ve supposedly turned down multiple solid offers over the last few seasons because their egregious price tag hasn’t been met and won’t be shaken.
While his heart may be in the right place with a theory like that, if it results in zero main roster movement and failed progress for the organization as a whole (particularly damning under the guise of a rebuild) then it’s not a positive asset to possess as a general manager.
The Flyers gave up a first and second round pick (plus Robert Hagg) for Ristolainen back in 2021, and even breaking even on a return this time around may not be easy, and if they can’t get that price the front office would probably rather just hold onto him for the rest of his term.
“He’s playing better so they can’t trade him” is a now classic battle cry from the “rebuilding” Flyers. Even though it defies the basic logic of the whole “rebuild” thing in the first place, this wouldn’t be the first time they’ve decided against dealing someone for that reason.
The “rebuilding” Flyers seem hellbent on making the playoffs with their current group, but refuse to actually build from the outside to get there. It means that as long as they’re within striking distance of a wildcard spot at the deadline, don’t expect any selling or buying.
It is possible they have to keep him until the offseason just to help any acquiring team make the future cap work. And as long as Ristolainen’s play doesn’t completely fall off a cliff, they should be fine waiting, even if it’s the unsexy option at the deadline. But if Ristolainen is off the table at the deadline, Briere better have a plan B, because sitting on their hands and doing nothing, particularly if they miss the playoffs anyway, is going to be a tough message to see to a weary fanbase.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: nhl.com
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