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After a hugely encouraging 2023-24 National Hockey League campaign, the Philadelphia Flyers have struggled to find a similar level of success through three months of the new season. Heading into the holiday break last December, John Tortorella's club was 19-11-4 and looking like one of the better teams in the Metropolitan Division.
Although it ended in an epic collapse, with the Flyers missing the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs by a hair, there was belief that the club would take another step forward this year. Unfortunately for Philly faithful, that hasn't been the case. Through 35 games in 2024-25, the Flyers are under .500 at 15-16-4, good enough for sixth place in the division and four points out of a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.
There is certainly a chance the Flyers will improve in the New Year and make another run at the postseason — something they haven't participated in in nearly a half decade — but president of hockey operations Keith Jones made it clear earlier this year that the team planned to sell ahead of the March 7 NHL Trade Deadline.
And the way things have gone, that's becoming increasingly likely with under three months until deadline day.
Flyers have a ton of trade chips ahead of March
Looking at Philadelphia's roster, there are a plethora of players who could be moved for future draft capital this season. Most of them are forwards, with Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli pointing to four in particular at the end of November:
“There's a bunch of guys that I think are up for a change of scenery from the Flyers: Morgan Frost, Bobby Brink, Joel Farabee, [and] to a lesser extent, Tyson Foerster,” the hockey insider said on an episode of Daily Faceoff Live. “They are all guys that you could see on the move at some point in time.”
None of the four players have been particularly good for the Flyers this season, and offensively, all four have been lousy. Frost has managed just six goals and 15 points in 31 games, while being healthy scratched multiple times by Tortorella already. He will be an RFA at the end of the season, and has already been linked to at least one team.
Brink has also struggled mightily, managing four goals and 15 points in 32 games of his own. He's seen his ice time dip by over a minute compared to last season, and the 23-year-old has a very reasonable cap hit at $1.5 million through the end of 2025-26. Probably the highest price tag of any of the aforementioned players is Farabee, who has three more years on his contract at $5 million AAV. After being third in scoring on the team in 2023-24, he's chipped in just four goals and 12 points in 35 games. This player badly needs a change of scenery.
The front office would probably be the least inclined to trade Foerster, who is in just his second full season and scored 20 goals as a rookie last year. The 22-year-old has also been in Tortorella's dog house this year, seeing his ice time drop by two minutes per game. He's managed nine goals and 16 points in 34 contests.
It wouldn't be surprising if any of Frost, Brink, Farabee and Foerster are on the move ahead of the trade deadline, especially considering how each has performed offensively in 2024-25. But one player who needs to get moved out of Philadelphia is defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen.
It's time for Flyers' Rasmus Ristolainen to get traded
Ristolainen was originally drafted by the Buffalo Sabres with the eighth overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft. While he was mostly solid in Western New York, his game has left a lot to be desired in Philadelphia. The Finnish blue liner was traded to the City of Brotherly Love in July of 2021; this is his fourth full season in Philly.
Ristolainen has chipped in a goal and eight points in 35 games in 2024-25, and still has two years remaining on his current contract beyond this year with a $5.1 million cap hit. Despite the contract, TSN's Darren Dreger stated at the end of November that general manager Danny Briere could be looking to move on from Ristolainen.
“Danny Briere is one of the more active GMs and he’s taken a lot of calls,” Dreger said. “There’s a ton of interest, as we know, in veteran defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. He’s a top-4 D and he’s got a couple of years after this year in term. That also checks a box in his favor.”
Ristolainen has also popped up on multiple trade boards as the deadline approaches, including The Athletic's Chris Johnston's top targets.
“The retooling Flyers are short on rental players to take to market in the lead-up to the deadline, but they could probably be compelled to part with the big, physical defenseman if the right deal came along,” Johnston said while including the 30-year-old at No. 9. “Ristolainen plays a rugged style best suited for third-pairing duty. With a contract that stretches two seasons beyond this one, some salary retention might be needed to make a trade work.”
The Flyers can afford to lose Ristolainen, with a top-six projected to be Travis Sanheim, Cam York, Egor Zamula, Jamie Drysdale, Nick Seeler and Erik Johnson. He would still likely fetch a solid return from a contender that is looking for a big body ahead of the postseason.
Ristolainen has never skated in a playoff contest in his 11+ year NHL career, and he could badly use a change of scenery. The Flyers could look a lot different once the March 7 deadline passes, and it's looking more and more likely that the defenseman will call a new city home at some point in 2025.
Even if Philly starts to improve into the New Year, that sentiment is unlikely to change. This front office has commited to selling, and in that spirit, it's more than time for Ristolainen to move on from Philadelphia. Briere is likely just waiting for the right deal to come along before he pulls the trigger.
