Colton Parayko was the newest member of the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday — until he wasn't. The longtime St. Louis Blues defenseman vetoed a trade that would send him to Western New York, and if the hulking blue liner doesn't end up getting moved before the NHL Trade Deadline on Friday, it could benefit the Philadelphia Flyers.
With multiple defensemen off the market, including MacKenzie Weegar, Tyler Myers and Connor Murphy, who have all been moved, that will only make the market heat up for Rasmus Ristolainen, as Frank Seravalli reported on Thursday.
“The winner in all of this may be the Philadelphia Flyers with Rasmus Ristolainen,” wrote the hockey insider, while including the Finn at No. 8 on his latest Trade Targets board.
Ristolainen has had a resurgent couple of campaigns in the City of Brotherly Love, and he was solid for Team Finland at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, en route to a bronze medal.
The veteran has one year remaining on his contract at a very reasonable $5.1 million cap hit, which means he would be more than just a rental for a potential Stanley Cup contender.
Seravalli continued: “Edmonton snagged Connor Murphy. Seattle took Jamie Oleksiak off the market. Utah moved on Mackenzie Weegar. If Parayko says no, that may mean the next team with a sizable right-shooting defenseman available could cash in.
“The others available: St. Louis could turn their attention to Justin Faulk. Washington has Trevor van Riemsdyk on the market, ditto Oliver Ekman-Larsson in Toronto and New Jersey has been trying to move Dougie Hamilton for a calendar year now. But none of those blueliners play a style similar to Ristolainen, which has clearly been en vogue this deadline.”
Flyers preparing to sell?
Flyers general manager Danny Briere has already made it clear he isn't interested in acquiring any rentals. That makes a lot of sense, as Philadelphia is 28-21-11 and sixth place in the Metropolitan Division with 22 games left in their regular-season.
Now six points back of the final wildcard berth in the Eastern Conference, it's possible but very unlikely that the club ends up being one of the last eight standing in the middle of April.
For that reason, it's expected Briere and the front office will look to shop Ristolainen, and as Seravalli has reported, the market for him should continue to heat up in the 24 hours remaining until Friday's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline.
It'll be interesting to see if the 31-year-old ends up getting moved, or whether Flyers brass will keep him around to see if the team can make a late postseason push over the final month and a half of the campaign.
All trades and rumors are being documented in ClutchPoints' NHL Trade Deadline Tracker.
