Flyers Notes: Ristolainen, Michkov, Briere
Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is no stranger to the rumor mill. Over the last couple of years, he has been a speculative trade candidate heading into the trade deadline but his contract (he has a $5.1MM AAV through next season) and injuries scuttled those talks. Even though Philadelphia entered play tonight in a Wild Card spot, Daily Faceoff’s Anthony DiMarco reports that while the veteran isn’t actively being shopped, he is believed to be available for the right price. The 31-year-old was injured to start the season, only coming back last month. Ristolainen has two assists in nine games this season along with 15 blocks and a dozen hits while he’s averaging over 20 minutes per night of ice time. A right-shot defender who can play on the second pairing is sure to generate some interest on the trade front.
More from Philadelphia:
- The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Matvei Michkov is dealing with a foot injury and is listed as day-to-day. The 21-year-old has had an up-and-down sophomore campaign so far. He has a respectable 23 points in 40 games but has scored just once in his last 16 outings. Michkov suffered the injury on Saturday against Anaheim but didn’t report it to the team until Monday, according to Jackie Spiegel of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
- Speaking pregame to reporters tonight including Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia (Twitter links), GM Daniel Briere indicated that negotiations with pending RFA forward Trevor Zegras haven’t started yet. Acquired from Anaheim in the offseason, the 24-year-old has bounced back considerably, posting 15 goals and 24 assists in 40 games heading into tonight’s action. Meanwhile, Briere also indicated that while they’re unlikely to be big sellers heading into the trade deadline two months from now, they’re also not going to be swinging big on rentals either. Given where they are in their rebuilding phase, that makes sense although if they remain in the mix into March, a smaller move or two to bolster their roster could still make some sense.
Philadelphia Flyers Activate Rasmus Ristolainen, Reassign Ty Murchison
The Philadelphia Flyers announced today that defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen has been activated from injured reserve. In a corresponding move, the club announced that defenseman Ty Murchison has been reassigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Ristolainen’s activation places him in position to make his season debut tonight against the Montreal Canadiens. Ristolainen underwent right triceps surgery in the spring, a procedure that cost him all 31 games of the Flyers’ season so far. His return bolsters the right side of the Flyers’ defense to a significant degree, assuming he is able to hit the ground running after such a lengthy absence.
Once a player whose play drew a significant amount of criticism during his days with the Buffalo Sabres, Ristolainen has definitely raised his stock as a member of the Flyers, especially recently. He was Philadelphia’s No. 2 defenseman in terms of ice time last season, skating over 20 minutes per night including steady time on both sides of special teams.
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jackie Spiegel reported today that Ristolainen is set to take up a spot tonight on the team’s third pairing, partnering with veteran Nick Seeler.
As a result of Ristolainen’s return, Murchison has been returned to the AHL. The move ends what was the 22-year-old 2021 fifth-round pick’s first recall to the NHL. He was able to make his NHL debut on Dec. 9 and ended up playing in three games for the Flyers. He didn’t register a point but did manage five hits and two blocked shots.
Metro Notes: Ristolainen, Rangers, Horcoff
Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen was on the ice for the Flyers’ morning skate today wearing a no-contact jersey, reports NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jordan Hall. Per Hall, this is Ristolainen’s first skate with the team in 2025-26. Ristolainen is still recovering from the right triceps surgery he underwent in March. While it’s unclear at this point how far Ristolainen is from fitness to play in games, today’s sight is an encouraging one for the Flyers, who stand to benefit greatly whenever Ristolainen is back to full health.
The 31-year-old had a strong 2024-25 season in Philadelphia. While he only managed 19 points, which is a far cry from the production he used to post consistently as a member of the Buffalo Sabres, he made his mark defensively. Standing 6’4″ and 208 pounds, Ristolainen provided valuable size to the Flyers’ defense, and managed to kill penalties at a decent clip. He was the Flyers’ No. 2 defenseman in terms of ice time last season, averaging 20:31 time on ice per game including time on both special teams units. The Flyers have relied more heavily on Cam York and Jamie Drysdale in Ristolainen’s absence, with each player currently at a significantly higher average time on ice per game in 2025-26 compared to last season. Getting Ristolainen back at some point should allow for more balance in terms of how the Flyers coaching staff is able to deploy their blueliners.
Other notes from the Metropolitan Division:
- In 2022, the New York Rangers made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Final, and their run was greatly aided by their “kid” line made up of a trio of top draft picks: Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko, and Filip Chytil. While two of those three players have since been traded away, it appears the Rangers could be in the process of discovering another third line made up of its youngest players. The Athletic’s Peter Baugh wrote today that “The Rangers’ third line of Will Cuylle, Noah Laba and Brett Berard was buzzing” during the team’s win over the Dallas Stars, and brought up that the Rangers held a decisive lead in high-danger scoring chances whenever that line was on the ice. While it’s too early to tell if that line will stick long-term, those early results are promising. Cuylle is the most experienced player on the line (195 career NHL games played, 45 points last season) while Laba is in his rookie campaign and Berard has just 40 career NHL games. While the Rangers’ track record of developing its top forward draft picks has come under some recent scrutiny, each member of the aforementioned trio is a success story for the organization. Both Cuylle and Berard were second-day NHL draft picks who spent time in AHL Hartford before reaching the NHL, while Laba is a fourth-round pick who spent time in the NCAA.
- When the Pittsburgh Penguins drafted center Will Horcoff at the No. 24 slot at the 2025 NHL Draft, their selection came earlier than where Horcoff had been ranked by most public-facing outlets. While he was ranked No. 27 by TSN’s Bob McKenzie and No. 28 by Corey Pronman of The Athletic, many other outlets, such as the team at Elite Prospects and TSN’s Craig Button, ranked him more as a second-rounder. So far, Horcoff’s performances have easily justified his first-round draft slot. He’s currently tied for the overall scoring lead in all of college hockey with 26 points in 18 games. He also leads the country in goal-scoring by a wide margin, his 18 markers quite a bit higher than the next-highest scorer. (DET’s Max Plante, who has 13) While it’s unclear whether Horcoff’s incredible start to 2025-26 has materially impacted how scouts view his long-term projection, it is clear that the early returns on Pittsburgh’s investment of a first-round draft choice have been wholly positive.
Snapshots: Laine, Ristolainen, Hill, Barron, Khaira
Montreal Canadiens forward Patrik Laine has struggled with injury issues throughout his NHL career, and unfortunately 2025-26 has been no different. The Canadiens announced on Saturday that Laine would be out with a lower-body injury on a day-to-day basis, and given that day-to-day designation, it appeared this Laine absence would be relatively straightforward. But today, Sportsnet’s Eric Engels reported that Laine “has gone for a second opinion on his lower-body injury,” and although he’s still listed as day-to-day, the report raises questions about whether he could be looking at a more extended absence.
It’s an important time for Laine and the future of his career as he nears the expiry of his $8.7MM AAV deal. Laine is set to hit unrestricted free agency in the summer, and there were times during his debut campaign where he looked like he’d found a long-term place to play with the Canadiens. He scored 20 goals and 33 points, and was particularly lethal on the power play, but injuries limited him to just 52 games. With Ivan Demidov almost certain to command a first-unit power play spot at some point down the line, and Zachary Bolduc‘s addition already moving Laine down to the second unit, it’s fair to question if the Canadiens have a place for Laine going into the future. He has gotten off to a slow start this season with just one point in five games, and a potentially longer-term absence could further complicate things. For a player who has at times looked like, and performed like, a star in the NHL, today’s report is an undoubtedly discouraging development.
Other notes from across the NHL:
- Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen has not made his 2025-26 debut yet as he recovers from the season-ending surgery he underwent earlier this year, and today DailyFaceoff’s Anthony Di Marco reported that the player is targeting a return at some point in December. Ristolainen was the Flyers’ No. 2 defenseman by ice time last season, playing in 20:31 per night including a role on both special teams units. So far this season, right-shot blueliner Jamie Drysdale is playing nearly two additional minutes per night compared to what he played last season, likely in part due to Ristolainen’s absence. The Flyers have gotten off to a decent 3-2-1 start, and getting Ristolainen back in December should only boost their competitive chances.
- The Vegas Golden Knights recalled netminder Carl Lindbom today as part of their response to the injury suffered by starting goalie Adin Hill, and it was confirmed today by head coach Bruce Cassidy that Hill would be out on a week-to-week basis. (Report via Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal) Cassidy added that Hill won’t travel with the team on its road trip to Florida and North Carolina, a trip that concludes Oct. 31 with Vegas’ home game against the Colorado Avalanche. It’s an unfortunate development for Hill, who has played in five games so far this season to a .888 save percentage and 2.73 goals-against average.
- One of the breakout players of this early portion of the 2025-26 Winnipeg Jets season, Morgan Barron, will be out day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, according to The Athletic’s Murat Ates. Barron, as mentioned, has been one of the Jets’ more productive players so far this season. The hefty 6’4″ forward has scored three goals and five points in six games, which already puts him one-third of the way to his scoring total from 2024-25, one he managed across 74 games. With Barron injured, Parker Ford is likely to draw into the lineup in Barron’s vacated fourth-line role.
- 337-game NHL veteran Jujhar Khaira played out 2024-25 on an AHL contract, and a mid-season trade to the Abbotsford Canucks allowed Khaira to help the Canucks to a Calder Cup championship. Khaira hasn’t found a team for 2025-26, but today Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV reported that the Canucks “are talking” with Khaira “about re-joining the team.” Assuming they’re talking about a potential AHL contract, it’s unlikely Khaira would be a cheap addition to the AHL payroll as a player with so much NHL experience and a Calder Cup championship on his résumé.
Snapshots: Ristolainen, McDavid, Malhotra, Sabres
As expected when he underwent triceps surgery back in March after suffering an injury there for the second straight season, Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen won’t be available to start the season. Speaking with reporters today (video link), GM Daniel Briere indicated that the blueliner is progressing well but won’t join the team until a month or two into the season. The 30-year-old had a bounce-back showing last season, picking up 19 points along with 94 blocks and 97 hits in 63 games while averaging over 20 minutes a night. He was recently cleared to resume skating in a non-contact jersey.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- With Oilers superstar Connor McDavid entering the final year of his contract, some are surprised that a deal hasn’t been signed yet. In his latest column for The Athletic (subscription link), Chris Johnston relays that the center isn’t believed to be seeking a specific number in terms of AAV. The benchmark on that front has moved several times in recent years with his teammate Leon Draisaitl ($14MM) now the leader. It’s widely expected that McDavid will surpass that number by a sizable margin but there isn’t a particular target in mind.
- The Canucks announced that they have exercised the team option on Abbotsford head coach Manny Malhotra’s contract, keeping him signed through the 2026-27 season. Malhotra had quite the first season in Vancouver’s system, leading Abbotsford to a 44-24-2-2 record in the regular season, including a late-season 13-game winning streak that gave them plenty of momentum heading into the playoffs. There, they went 16-8 overall on their way to the Calder Cup title, making the decision to extend his contract a very simple one.
- While many teams are revealing their training camp rosters, the Sabres are trimming theirs. The team announced that forwards Matous Kucharcik, Melvin Novotny, Ryan Rucinski, and Ashton Schultz, along with defenseman Luke Dragusica, have all been returned to their respective junior teams. The four forwards were all part of Buffalo’s draft class back in June.
East Notes: Zacha, Ristolainen, Paupanekis
A trade market for Boston Bruins forward Pavel Zacha continues to materialize throughout the summer months. According to a new report from James Murphy of RG Media, an NHL source claims that the Montreal Canadiens and Calgary Flames are two teams that have inquired about the forward’s availability.
Murphy cited a quote from the source, saying, “The Canadiens definitely have interest in Zacha and have inquired about him, but they’re not the only team. Several teams — I’m told the Flames are one — continue to express interest in him.” While nothing is urgent, especially between the two Original Six rivals, Murphy states that various scenarios are now being discussed.
He did not specify which players the Canadiens might be willing to trade for Zacha. However, Murphy mentioned that Joshua Roy, Oliver Kapanen, and Jayden Struble have been mentioned as potential trade candidates in Montreal’s search for a second-line center. Still, it’s notable that outside of swapping draft picks, the Canadiens and Bruins haven’t connected on a player trade since 2001.
At any rate, Zacha would certainly fit the mold of a second-line center that Montreal and other teams are coveting this offseason. Over the past three years in Boston, Zacha has scored 56 goals and 163 points in 242 games with a +30 rating, averaging 17:44 of ice time per night. Meanwhile, he’s been a net positive on the defensive side of the puck, averaging a 52.9% success rate in the faceoff dot and 90.1% on-ice save percentage at even strength.
Other notes from the Eastern Conference:
- Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen continues to recover from tricep surgery that has sidelined him since March 26th of last season. In a positive update to his recovery timeline, Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia reported that Ristolainen has resumed skating, albeit in a non-contact jersey. Ristolainen was initially given a six-month recovery timeline, suggesting he might be ready for the start of the 2025-26 season. He aims to build on a successful season before surgery, having scored four goals and 19 points in 63 games with the Flyers.
- One of the Canadiens’ recent draft picks won’t participate in the team’s upcoming rookie camp. In a team announcement, Montreal shared that forward Hayden Paupanekis, drafted 69th overall in the 2025 NHL Draft, will miss rookie camp due to a diagnosis of mononucleosis. He’s coming off a relatively productive season split between the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs and Kelowna Rockets, scoring 22 goals and 43 points in 71 games with a -30 rating.
Players Who Could Start The Season On LTIR
While only a handful of teams project to need cap relief via long-term injured reserve to open the season, multiple candidates across the league might technically qualify for a placement. Doing so would bar the player from returning until Oct. 31 at the earliest – 24 days from the season start date of Oct. 7.
Avalanche: Logan O’Connor
O’Connor underwent hip surgery in early June. Given the five-to-six-month projected recovery window, he won’t be available until early November at best, putting him past the 10-game/24-day threshold required for LTIR. Colorado, which has $2.10MM in current cap space, will likely place O’Connor on standard IR if they don’t make any other cap-affecting moves between now and October. If they need the relief, though, they could create up to O’Connor’s $2.5MM cap hit in cushion for the first few weeks of the season if they need it.
Blues: Torey Krug
St. Louis general manager Doug Armstrong announced in May that Krug’s career is done because of pre-arthritic conditions in his left ankle that surgical intervention only slowly corrected. Since the Blues only have around $625K in cap space, Krug and his $6.5MM cap hit will be going on LTIR as soon as they need the flexibility for a call-up.
Canadiens: Carey Price
What’s certain is that Price won’t play this season or ever again. He’s entering the final season of his contract at a $10.5MM cap hit after confirming nearly two years ago that his knee injury would prohibit him from suiting up again. What’s uncertain is whether or not he’ll begin the season on LTIR. Montreal isn’t in a great position to optimize its LTIR relief, either by matching his cap hit in excess or getting down to $0 in space before placing him on the list. That’s made his contract a trade chip for teams who might need the relief more.
Devils: Johnathan Kovacevic
Kovacevic underwent knee surgery in early May and won’t be ready for training camp and likely opening night as well. Whether that stretches past Oct. 31 and makes him eligible for an LTIR placement if New Jersey needs cap relief early on remains to be seen.
Flyers: Ryan Ellis, Rasmus Ristolainen
Ellis’ career is over after sustaining a wide-ranging muscular injury in his pelvis just four games into his Flyers tenure in 2021. Ristolainen underwent a procedure on his right triceps tendon on March 26 with a six-month recovery time, putting him right on the edge of potential LTIR eligibility. Philly will have a better idea of the latter’s LTIR deployment potential after he undergoes his training camp physical. With $370K in cap space, they’re in a good position for near-max LTIR capture and will almost certainly at least place Ellis there to begin the year to give them call-up flexibility.
Golden Knights: Alex Pietrangelo
Pietrangelo is already on offseason LTIR, meaning the Knights actually still have to add an additional $1.2MM to their roster before opening night to optimize his capture and unlock his full $8.8MM cap hit’s worth of relief for this season. The team confirmed he requires multiple undisclosed but significant surgeries that will likely mark the end of his playing career, but it’s unclear if he’s actually had them done yet.
Jets: Adam Lowry
Lowry underwent hip surgery in late May and won’t be available until after Thanksgiving at the earliest. Winnipeg likely won’t be formalizing an LTIR placement with nearly $4MM in cap space, though.
Mammoth: Juuso Välimäki
Välimäki underwent ACL surgery in early March. He likely won’t end up on LTIR given Utah’s current cap flexibility ($6.68MM), but he’ll be out until at least early November so he’ll be there as an early-season option in case they need relief for whatever reason.
Oilers: Zach Hyman
Hyman’s inclusion here is on the speculative side. The winger could very well be ready for the start of the season. However, there hasn’t been much clarity on how much recovery he still needs after undergoing surgery to repair a severe wrist injury that kept him out of the Stanley Cup Final. A report in early June indicated there was uncertainty about his status for training camp, with no meaningful updates since then.
Panthers: Matthew Tkachuk
Tkachuk told ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski earlier this month that he’s still deciding whether he wants to undergo surgery to address the adductor issue that hampered him down the stretch and in the playoffs after sustaining it at the 4 Nations Face-Off. All signs point to him opting for it and spending the next two to three months on the shelf as a result, though. Placing him on LTIR is the only way the Panthers, who currently have a cap exceedance of $3.725MM, can be compliant to start the season without shedding a significant contract, something they aren’t keen to do.
Wild: Jonas Brodin
Minnesota has $9.41MM in cap space, but that number will shrink once they re-sign restricted free agent Marco Rossi (or add salary while trading his signing rights). Neither scenario will likely push them into a situation where they need to use LTIR relief, but they might have Brodin and his $6MM cap hit as an option for some short-term flexibility if required. He underwent an upper-body procedure in early June and is questionable for the beginning of the season, so it’s not yet clear if he’ll miss enough time to qualify.
Maple Leafs Showed Strong Interest In Acquiring Rasmus Ristolainen Earlier This Season
Back at the trade deadline, the Maple Leafs and Flyers made one of the bigger trades of the day with Toronto picking up center Scott Laughton. However, it appears that Laughton wasn’t the only veteran Flyer they were going after as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch relays that Toronto also made a serious run for defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen at the deadline with a league source suggesting that the Maple Leafs made a very strong offer but were rebuffed.
The 30-year-old has been in trade speculation for the last couple of years now but he wasn’t moved at the 2024 deadline with the team still in the mix for a playoff spot. Well out of contention by then this season, Ristolainen was believed to have more of a chance of moving although it appears GM Daniel Briere set a very high asking price.
Ristolainen enjoyed a bounce-back year in 2024-25, picking up 19 points in 63 games, his second-best output over the last five seasons. More important, he upped his playing time by nearly four minutes per game compared to the year before, going from being a depth piece to one of former head coach John Tortorella’s more trusted options.
As it turns out, the deadline might have been the best time for the Flyers to move Ristolainen. Soon after the deadline, he was shut down with an upper-body injury. Then last month, he underwent triceps surgery, a procedure that carries a recovery timeline of six months, meaning that Ristolainen will miss training camp and the first couple of weeks of the regular season. Speculatively, teams will want to ensure that he has fully recovered from that before putting forth their best efforts to acquire him and the final two years left on his deal that carries a $5.1MM cap charge.
On the surface, it seems unlikely that Toronto would rekindle their interest. After failing to acquire Ristolainen, GM Brad Treliving turned his focus to acquiring defenseman Brandon Carlo to seemingly fill the same top-four role that they were likely viewing Ristolainen to fill. With their top six on the back end intact and some prominent free agents up front, reshaping the forward group will likely be Toronto’s top priority in the coming weeks. But with a relatively thin free agent market for right-shot blueliners, Briere should expect to be receiving some phone calls about Ristolainen once again this offseason.
Flyers’ Rasmus Ristolainen Out Six Months Following Triceps Surgery
Rasmus Ristolainen underwent successful surgery on his right triceps tendon last month, the team confirmed today, following a statement from GM Daniel Brière last weekend. The procedure carries a minimum six-month recovery time, so Ristolainen will miss at least the first few weeks of the 2025-26 season.
The 6’4″ right-shot defenseman missed the last two-plus months of the 2023-24 campaign with the same injury and had surgery to address it in early March, so he got more of a head start last summer. He was healthy out of the gate in 2024-25 and even churned out the best defensive results of his 12-year career, averaging north of 20 minutes per game for the first time in three years while recording a 4-15–19 scoring line in 63 games with a plus-three rating.
The Flyers attempted to move the 30-year-old Ristolainen at the trade deadline to capitalize on his strong season, but there weren’t any takers after setting a first-round pick as their asking price. They will now hope he can replicate his strong performance in a pairing with Egor Zamula next season, as Philly looks to inch closer toward playoff contention.
Undergoing the same surgery in back-to-back years is never a good sign, though, especially for a skater in the latter half of his career. The good news is he was able to rebound nicely from the procedure last year, so there’s plenty of optimism he can do so again.
Ristolainen still has two years left on his contract, carrying a $5.1MM cap hit, as part of the five-year, $25.5MM extension he signed in 2022.
Flyers Notes: Coaching Search, Ristolainen, Ersson
At the end of March, it was confirmed that the Philadelphia Flyers will be among several teams seeking a new head coach this summer. Considering this, Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia provided various updates regarding the Flyers’ head coaching search as summer approaches.
First, Hall reported that the Flyers are not following a strict timeline for their search, and they will conduct all research internally instead of hiring an external firm for assistance. They’ll start their research at the base level, as Hall indicated that Philadelphia hasn’t begun making a short list yet. Still, General Manager Daniel Brière confirmed Brad Shaw will be interviewed after serving as the team’s interim head coach for the last month of the regular season.
According to Jackie Spiegel of The Philadelphia Inquirer, unfortunately, the hottest name on the coaching market, David Carle of the University of Denver, isn’t considered a serious candidate for the job. Hall shared that Brière would like to start adding to the team rather than subtracting from it, and that change in philosophy should affect their eventual hire. Given the mixture of youth and veterans on the roster, the Flyers will want to find a coach who can blend development with contention.
To hypothesize, Jay Woodcroft is likely the top available option for coaches with considerable experience with development and the playoffs. Woodcroft guided the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors to a Pacific Division Playoff Championship in 2020-21, before coaching the Edmonton Oilers to the Western Conference Finals a year later.
Other notes from Philadelphia:
- As reported by Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports, Brière commented on the status of defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, whose season prematurely ended due to an upper-body injury. Unfortunately, Ristolainen’s upper-body issue was confirmed as an arm injury, similar to the one that ended his 2023-24 season in February. Ristolainen underwent surgery to repair the injury and may not start the 2025-26 season on time. As a potential trade candidate for the Flyers heading into the offseason, the recent injury history and delayed start to next year may preclude Philadelphia from receiving any worthwhile offers for their Finnish blueliner.
- In a separate injury update from Hall, netminder Samuel Ersson admitted to a lingering lower-body injury that plagued him most of the season. Unsurprisingly, something was afflicting Ersson, as he had an up-and-down campaign, which, admittedly, is more than the other Flyers netminders can say. After maintaining a .902 SV% through the first two months of the regular season, Ersson’s SV% dropped to an. .874 mark from December through March.