The Philadelphia Flyers are not done trying to make moves ahead of tomorrow’s trade deadline as they are currently looking for takers on recently acquired forward Ryan Johansen. The Flyers have expressed that they have no interest in bringing him up to the big club – as evidenced by his immediate placement on waivers – and it seems like his past with John Tortorella might not be a good fit either.
Johansen was acquired as a cap dump in the Sean Walker trade that was orchestrated yesterday, which allowed the Flyers to recoup a 2025 first round pick. He was placed on waivers, cleared earlier today, and it has been reported that the Flyers are looking to find him a new home and are willing to retain 50% of his remaining $4 million AAV to make it happen. He does have one more season remaining on his contract, so the Flyers would be on the hook for the rest of this season and 2024-25.
Earlier today, Daniel Brière met with the media discussing everything that took place yesterday and was asked about the Johansen situation:
“I’ll be honest, probably not. We’ll see if we can give him a chance to go somewhere else. We haven’t decided what the future looks like for him yet.
“He’s been reassigned this afternoon, yes, after he cleared waivers. We’re trying to see if there’s something we can do, maybe, if there’s another team that has a need for him. We’ve asked him to stand pat for a day or two.”
Johansen is a veteran 13 seasons that started all the way back in 2011-12 with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The 4th overall pick from the 2010 NHL Entry Draft scored 79 goals and 193 points in 309 games across parts of 5 seasons in Columbus before being traded to Nashville for Seth Jones. He scored 110 goals and 362 points in 533 games across 8 seasons for the Predators but only chipped in with 59 goals and 149 points in his final 4 seasons.
He was traded once again this offseason to the Colorado Avalanche with Nashville retaining 50% of his $8 million salary for the final 2 years. He managed to score just 13 goals and 23 points in 63 for the powerhouse Avalanche but looked to have rubbed his teammates the wrong way. Defenseman Devon Toews called out unnamed teammates earlier this year and after what Adrian Dater tweeted out last night, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he was talking about Johansen:
The Flyers willing to retain 50% of his remaining $4 million cap hit is a big step considering he will count against the cap next season and will take up an all-important retention slot, but finding a suitor is going to be a whole different story. Teams looking for a cheap top-9 centre with playmaking capabilities should be knocking on the Flyers’ door but there wasn’t a lot of interest to begin with.
If Brière can pull off the trade, he will surely add another valuable draft asset to his cupboard. The Flyers have 5 first round picks in the next 3 years as well as 5 second round picks, 3 third round picks, 3 fourth round picks, and 4 fifth round picks.
