The Philadelphia Flyers are surprisingly in win-now mode in Rick Tocchet's first year as head coach. The expectation was that it'd still be another year of rebuilding before they really competed. However, after the successful acquisition of Trevor Zegras in the offseason, the Flyers are already knocking on the door. While the Flyers aren't in the business of trading assets, an injury to Rasmus Ristolainen for most of the season makes him look much more expendable, according to Daily Faceoff's Anthony Di Marco.
“Speaking with a team source, while he is not actively being shopped, defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is still very much available for trade,” Di Marco reported. “Ristolainen, 31, returned from injury last month and has two assists through nine games this season. Though mainly playing on the third pair alongside Nick Seeler, Ristolainen is averaging north of 20 minutes per game, fourth among Flyers defensemen.”
Ristolainen is an interesting case for the Flyers. He is the type of defenseman you can win with in the postseason, but the Flyers have been successful this season without him in the lineup. While his 20 minutes per game would be a loss, they've shown they can excel without him. It could be the best of both worlds for general manager Danny Briere.
A contending team will have plenty of interest in adding Ristolainen to their backend. He hasn't played a playoff game in his 13-year career, and the belief is he would be a star in a postseason atmosphere. While Briere might not want to trade him to an Eastern Conference rival for fear of playing him in a series, he would be wise to try to accrue some assets for the stay-at-home defenseman.
