
Rasmus Ristolainen staying? Flyers' trade target not drawing high interest
The needle, at the moment, is inching back toward Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen remaining with the team past next Friday's trade deadline.
Despite Ristolainen being high on various trade boards — including ours — the Flyers haven't received many calls on the 30-year-old blueliner with two seasons left on his contract after this one at a $5.1 million AAV, according to a team source.
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That can quickly change this time of year, of course, particularly if there's a team or teams that swing and miss on other targets. But, at least for now, Ristolainen is less likely to be dealt than previously thought.
And, really, that shouldn't be all that astonishing. General manager Daniel Briere said in his most recent media availability that Ristolainen was 'not a rental.' That's essentially code for, they're not going to deal him if the asking price isn't met. It seems likely the Flyers would prefer a first-round pick or a top prospect in exchange for Ristolainen.
Further, the Flyers almost certainly don't want to retain any salary on Ristolainen in future seasons, either. While $5.1 million could be an inflated salary for a third-pair defenseman — which is where Ristolainen has been playing lately — the latest playing cards have his market value at $4 million. I'd argue it could be even higher in the real world simply because he's a right-handed shot with good size and physicality, something that playoff teams are always seeking.
But that's what also makes him valuable to the Flyers, who already have a small lineup — the smallest in the league by weight, in fact, according to Elite Prospects.
On defense, 6-foot Cam York and 5-foot-11 Jamie Drysdale are current regulars, while 5-9 Emil Andrae is knocking at the door after an impressive NHL stint earlier this season. Associate coach Brad Shaw, who runs the defense and the penalty kill, confirmed last week that it's unlikely the Flyers will be able to dress all three of them on a regular basis when they plan on making a playoff push again — which could be as soon as next season.
'You can't teach size. You look at the teams that are winning playoff rounds and Stanley Cups, and for the most part, they have big defense cores,' Shaw said. 'Part of our growth as an organization is, you likely can't have those three guys around when you're really vying (for the playoffs) and becoming a contender and being a team that's going through playoff rounds.
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'As you're shaping your roster — I love size. I've coached lots of big defensemen. I love them on the penalty kill. An extra foot of reach is an incredible asset to have. I love big guys with snarl. They have a huge value. They impact games in different ways. But at this moment, we don't quite have that makeup.'
Coach John Tortorella on Wednesday called Ristolainen 'the most improved player since I started here. Size, righty, escapes (pressure), uses his legs.'
He continued: 'If you trade him on Friday, then on Saturday, you say, 'S—, I need a big, right-handed defenseman.' These are the conversations that coaches have with their (general) managers, and you talk about it. But I do think you have to listen, because you can't fall in love. If there's something that really is a good situation for the time frame that we're in with our team right now, I'm sure Danny is going to look really hard at it. You have to listen. But you just can't make a trade just because you think you have to make a trade.'
If the Flyers do trade Ristolainen, there's no one in the system who could immediately fill the void he would leave. The Flyers like 22-year-old prospect Hunter McDonald, a 6-4, 204-pounder, and while his first professional season has been mostly encouraging, he's still viewed internally as someone who needs more time in the AHL to develop before he's a consideration for the big club.
Meanwhile, Ristolainen, who has 18 points (4 goals, 14 assists) in 56 games this season and ripped home a one-timer to open the scoring in Tuesday's 6-1 Flyers win over the Penguins, acknowledged after the game that he might be playing the best hockey of his career.
'Yeah, maybe,' he said. 'Just feel like things are coming together. Keep working hard, and stay confident.'
Andrei Kuzmenko also made an appearance on Chris Johnston's trade board this week as a candidate to get flipped before the deadline. The 29-year-old forward was acquired by the Flyers from the Calgary Flames are part of the trade for Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee. In three games with the Flyers, he has a power play goal and an assist playing on a line with Laughton and Travis Konecny.
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The Flyers aren't against listening to offers for Kuzmenko before next Friday. But, there haven't been any calls inquiring on him just yet. A 12-team modified no-trade clause limits their options, too.
If he does remain with the Flyers, the team is still open to keeping the pending unrestricted free agent around. But, of course, it would have to be at a greatly reduced salary than the current $5.5 million he's making now.
Kuzmenko's best chance at a decent payday this summer could be to try and maximize his time for the rest of the season with the Flyers, who have him in the bumper position on the top power-play unit.
(Photo of Rasmus Ristolainen: Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)
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New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Stanley Cup checklist: How do Devils stack up to Panthers and Oilers?
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New Jersey has significant work to do to catch up, but it also has some important pieces already in place. Oilers: Connor McDavid Panthers: Alexander Barkov Devils: Jack Hughes There's only one McDavid, and Barkov-level two-way centers don't come around often either. Still, Jack Hughes is one of the game's most elite players when he's on the ice. Shoulder injuries have ended his past two seasons. The Devils aren't on the hunt for a 1C like some teams, but it's also imperative that the organization and Hughes do everything in their power to have him playing when the games matter most in the coming years. Oilers: Zach Hyman Panthers: Matthew Tkachuk Devils: Jesper Bratt Hyman got hurt in the conference final and won't be available during the Stanley Cup Final, but when he's on the ice, he's a brilliant complementary fit in Edmonton. He's had at least 27 goals each of his four seasons with the Oilers and had 54 in 2023-24. Matthew Tkachuk or Sam Reinhart could fit in this category for the Panthers. Both are core pieces on long-term contracts and are players any team in the league would crave. The Devils have a true elite wing of their own, though. Bratt has been a point-per-game player each of the past two seasons. He has a $7.8 million average annual value cap hit — a great deal for the Devils given his production. Advertisement Oilers: Evan Bouchard Panthers: Gustav Forsling Devils: Dougie Hamilton Though prone to defensive mistakes, Bouchard has blossomed into an elite offensive player: one who can create offense even when playing away from McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Forsling is reliable and is one of the greatest waiver wire pickups in NHL history. Hamilton should currently be considered the Devils' No. 1 defenseman, but if Luke Hughes continues to develop, he could seize that crown (more on him in a bit). 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Having him as the No. 2 center on a team is quite a luxury. New Jersey can't compete with that, but Hischier is a top-line level center. With Hughes and Hischier up the middle, the Devils are in a good position in terms of top-six centers. Fitzgerald will have to address center questions in his bottom six: Could Dawson Mercer fill the 3C role? Should the team re-sign Cody Glass? However, that's far easier than finding answers at the top of the lineup. Oilers: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Evander Kane Panthers: Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe Devils: Timo Meier, Dawson Mercer Because the Oilers have so much money tied up in their top two centers, there is a drop-off on the wing. Still, Nugent-Hopkins is a proven top-six player who has one monster season under his belt, a 104-point campaign in 2022-23. Kane missed the whole regular season, allowing the Oilers to dip into long-term injured reserve to supplement their depth. He's been an impact player this postseason, though, with 12 points in 18 games. Meanwhile, Florida is elite at wing. Reinhart is in the conversation for Tkachuk as the team's best wing. He had 57 goals in 2023-24 and then finished second in Selke voting this season. Verhaeghe has averaged more than 30 goals over the past three seasons (96 goals in 238 games) and has five career playoff overtime goals to boot. The Devils are paying Meier like an elite winger ($8.8 million AAV) and New Jersey needs him to play to that level. He had a strong postseason, but his goal total has decreased each of the past two seasons: from 40 in 2022-23 to 28 last season and 26 this season. Mercer is a respectable 3C option but hasn't consistently risen to the level of a top-six winger. For the Devils' top two lines to compare to the Oilers or Panthers, they probably need another top-six forward to round out the group. Advertisement Oilers: Mattias Ekholm Panthers: Aaron Ekblad Devils: Luke Hughes Ekholm is a vital part of Edmonton's team: trustworthy, huge (6 foot 5) and able to chip in on offense. Ekblad fills a similar role for the Panthers. Luke Hughes is a massive part of the Devils' future. The 21-year-old, a restricted free agent, has already demonstrated his ability to produce points and play more than 21 minutes per night at the NHL level. Defensemen sometimes take a while to develop, so the fact that he's already such a productive player with only 155 games under his belt offers plenty of reason for optimism. If he can emerge as a bona fide No. 1 in the coming years, the Devils' ceiling goes up exponentially. Oilers: Adam Henrique, Corey Perry Panthers: Brad Marchand, Anton Lundell Devils: Stefan Noesen, Ondřej Palát The Panthers' depth has shown throughout the postseason. Marchand and Lundell play on their third line, but both have been vital to Florida's success. Noesen is a solid depth player, and Palát brings playoff experience, but New Jersey is a ways away from creating a third line as capable as Florida's. In fairness, few (if any) teams can have as many top-nine options as the Panthers, including the Oilers. Florida will almost certainly lose some of that strength next season. Marchand, a deadline addition, has been a perfect fit, but the Panthers will have a difficult time re-signing him, especially if they are aiming to bring back Bennett. Regardless, the Panthers serve as a lesson that teams need depth to advance far in the postseason. It's an area the Devils will need to address. Oilers: Darnell Nurse, Jake Walman Panthers: Seth Jones, Niko Mikkola Devils: Brett Pesce, Jonas Siegenthaler The Devils stack up OK here when healthy. Along with Pesce and Siegenthaler — both good, responsible defensemen — they have 21-year-old Šimon Nemec, the No. 2 overall pick from 2022. He had a rough regular season but put together a strong playoffs that showed why he could still be an essential part of the team's future. Advertisement Walman, one of Edmonton's deadline additions, has helped round out the Oilers' blueline. Jones also moved at the deadline, and he's led the Panthers' skaters in ice time per game these playoffs. Florida should have no regrets about parting with Spencer Knight and a first-round pick to get him, mainly since Chicago retained money on the defenseman's contract. The Devils have high-end talent. No, they don't have McDavid or Draisaitl, but their best players are good enough to win in the postseason. Most teams don't have three forwards at the level of Jack Hughes, Bratt and Hischier. To make that star power matter, the Devils need two things: depth and health. This past season, New Jersey had neither in the playoffs. New Jersey relied too much on its top scorers against the Hurricanes. By the end of the series, the team was without both Hughes brothers, as well as defensemen Brenden Dillon and Johnathan Kovacevic. Brett Pesce and Jonas Siegenthaler were also playing at less than 100 percent. Tom Fitzgerald will have some reinforcements coming in this season. Prospect Arseni Gritsyuk coming over from the KHL should give New Jersey another middle-six option, and the front office has a bit of salary cap space to spend, though Luke Hughes' RFA deal will eat into that. New Jersey can also rework its fourth line; Justin Dowling, Tomáš Tatar, Nathan Bastian and Curtis Lazar are all coming off the books. Fitzgerald could consider trading players like Erik Haula or Dawson Mercer, which would free up some cap space to take a bigger swing at forward. Pending unrestricted free agent Nikolaj Ehlers could be worth a look. Adding high-end talent has a trickle-down effect on depth, too, which is a bonus. Florida and Edmonton also made significant additions at the trade deadline. With Hughes out, Fitzgerald wasn't as aggressive. If the Devils are healthy next season, perhaps he will take bigger midseason swings. Given Markström's age, the Devils are in a position to try to contend now. If Fitzgerald addresses the depth and gets a little luck in the health department, his team might not be as far away as its first-round exit this spring indicated. (Photo of Jack Hughes: Michael Martin / NHLI via Getty Images)


Washington Post
2 hours ago
- Washington Post
Panthers take 2-1 lead into game 4 against the Oilers
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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Oilers-Panthers Game 3 gets out of hand with multiple ejections
The standard rule of NHL playoff hockey is that if the score gets out of hand, the feistiness gets out of hand. The Edmonton Oilers were highly undisciplined as they fell 6-1 to the Florida Panthers in Game 3. Then the third period predictably turned into a series of scrums and misconducts. Advertisement It started at 10:29 with the Oilers trailing 5-1. Edmonton's Trent Frederic tried to punch Florida's Sam Bennett and missed. He then cross-checked Bennett several times, breaking his stick on his final effort. That led all of the skaters on the ice to square off. The scrum turned into a prolonged fight between Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse and Florida forward Jonah Gadjovich. Five players were thrown out of the game. Frederic received 14 minutes in the scrum, Bennett 12 minutes, Nurse 17 minutes and Gadjovich 15 minutes. Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm also received a 10-minute misconduct. "I don't think we would have acted or played like that had it been a one-goal or two-goal game," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. "Boys being boys, I guess trying to make investments for the next game." Advertisement The Oilers' misconducts continued with Evander Kane leaving the game after slashing Carter Verhaeghe, and Kasperi Kapanen was ejected for cross-checking Eetu Luostarinen. All told, there were 122 penalty minutes handed out in the third period, 75 of them to the Oilers. "The game obviously got out of hand at the end there," Kane told reporters after the game. "That stuff's going to happen. You look at some of the calls and whatnot, some of them are frustrating. They seem to get away with it more than we do." The Panthers received 11 power plays in the game and scored three power-play goals after entering the game with a 3.6% success rate in home playoff games. Advertisement "We talk about being composed," Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk told TNT. "You've got to take a punch in the face, you've got to take a slash in the face, a cross-check, a slash in the leg. Whatever the case is, you've got to do it. There's a bigger picture with the win for us." Oilers' Jake Walman receives two fines The only disciplinary actions resulting from Game 3 involved Oilers defenseman Jake Walman, who was fined twice. He was fined the maximum allowed $5,000 for roughing Tkachuk, who was tied up by Edmonton's John Klingberg. Walman received another $5,000 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct after spraying his water bottle toward the Panthers' bench. Kris Knoblauch on Game 3 officiating The Oilers coach answered carefully when asked about the officiating during the game, noting the Edmonton penalty for too many men on the ice. Advertisement "It was too many men. They caught us there," he said. "I just wished they had called it (against the Panthers) in Game 2 in overtime." Stanley Cup Final notes Even though Knoblauch pulled Stuart Skinner, he said he doesn't have to make a decision on who to play in Game 4. "Stu, I don't think had much chance on many of those goals," he said. … Before Bennett was ejected, he had a massive shift where he delivered two big hits and then scored on a 2-on-0 breakaway. … The Game 3 win gave Panthers coach Paul Maurice 1,000 combined regular-season and playoff victories. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stanley Cup Finals Game 3 gets out of hand with ejections, line brawl