Flyers management has long said that the players would dictate how the organization approached the NHL trade deadline and whether the Flyers would be sellers or buyers.
Well, when the clock struck 3 p.m. on yet another deadline for president Keith Jones and general manager Danny Brière, the Flyers were a seller of sorts as Bobby Brink was traded home to Minnesota, and Nic Deslauriers was moved to chase a Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Moving Brink from a top-nine spot was necessary to create space on the wing, as the players in the system, notably Porter Martone and Alex Bump — Brière said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if the latter gets called up before the end of the season, although reading the tea leaves, it could come sooner than later — are close to being NHL-ready.
But while they added David Jiříček as the return for Brink, and have Oliver Bonk, Spencer Gill, and Carter Amico in the system — all big, right-shot defensemen — Brière did not move his most exploitable trade piece, veteran right-shot defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen.
“You guys [the media] made a big story. I didn’t know I was trying to sell him,” Brière said on Friday after the deadline. “You guys made it sound like we were dumping Risto for next to nothing.
“Look, at the end of the day, Risto has a lot of value to our team. I wasn’t trying to dump Risto. I wasn’t trying to get rid of him. I think the media turned it into a little bit of a circus, to be honest. And that’s OK. I get it. It’s part of my job to deal with that. But the reality is, Risto is an important part of our defense.”
Unlike the winger position, Brière doesn’t think his defensemen-in-waiting are ready to slot into the top four and play the big minutes that Ristolainen has played; he played more than more than 27 minutes on Monday and 22 more on Thursday. “We need to protect them a little bit,” Brière said.
Sources have told The Inquirer that the Flyers wanted a first-round pick for Ristolainen, the physical defenseman who just had an impressive run for the bronze-medal-winning Finnish squad at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics and has been a standout since.
But while several teams did check in on the 6-foot-4 blueliner with term (he has one more year on his contract), no one matched the Flyers’ ask. And Brière would not confirm if a first-round pick was ever on the table, stating, “All I can tell you is, the value wasn’t as high as we needed for us to move forward.”
“I did get a lot of calls, and we took them seriously,” he added. “We went through all the teams that were serious, but at the end of the day, it just did not make sense value-wise. … We listened, but it made more sense to have Risto with us.”
Here are three other questions the general manager addressed.
Why did the Flyers want Jiříček?
The Flyers were in the mix to get the 6-4, 204-pound defenseman when the Columbus Blue Jackets were shopping him a year and a half ago. And Brière was a bit shocked he was available now, but Minnesota recently added Quinn Hughes, which changed the Czech native’s outlook in the State of Hockey.
Although he hasn’t had the track many expected when the 22-year-old was drafted one slot after Cutter Gauthier in 2022, the Flyers see high potential in Jiříček. Patience was asked by Brière, and while he is a different style of player from Jamie Drysdale, the GM sees similarities when it comes to their development arc.
“They both came in at 18 years old, probably a little too early to turn pro yet,” he said. “They go through some ups and downs, probably lose their confidence along the way. So he’s going to need some love. He’s going to need some reps. Especially, he needs time. He needs to play a lot of minutes and build his confidence.”
Jiříček will head to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League to start. The GM said he didn’t make any promises but said that at some point, if they have a chance, they’d like to give him a look with the big club. Jiříček has played 84 NHL games across four seasons with Columbus and Minnesota.
Why did the Flyers not trade for a center?
Another season and trade deadline came and went, and the Flyers are still without a No. 1 center. Sure, these types of players do not grow on trees, and yes, several who were expected to be available as free agents this summer have since signed extensions.
But if the Flyers want to take the next step, they need to upgrade down the middle.
“A few of the high-end centers that were in the trade market, or their name, we checked on that,” Brière said. “We had some discussions right now. It’s been tabled to closer to the draft [and then] we’ll look back into that. But we looked into it.
“We are aware; we know that it’s an area we’d like to improve. It’s all about timing, value, and when is the best time that you can get the best value for it. But, yeah, we’re aware. We’ve never hid from the fact that we’d like to improve that position.”
So the door isn’t shut, and there is some expectation that the Flyers could be busy around the draft. As Brière reiterated on Friday, it took almost two years to acquire Trevor Zegras.
Speaking of Zegras, he came to Philly excited for the opportunity to play center again, but has primarily played on the wing. The door isn’t closed on him pivoting, but it’s not as wide-open as before.
“He’s been at his best when he played the wing this year — that’s just the reality. I wish I could say the opposite,” Brière said. “I wish I could say he’s much better when he plays center, but the reality is, he’s been at his best when he plays with [Travis Konecny] and [Christian] Dvorak. So, that line has been our best line for a while now, so that’s why … when I mentioned the wingers, that [I] put his name on there, because he’s been mostly on the wing.”
What does the future now hold for the Flyers?
With the Flyers selling, the writing is all but permanently inked on the wall that they will miss the postseason for the sixth straight season. They entered Friday six points back of the Boston Bruins for the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and eight points back of the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins for second and third in the Metropolitan Division.
“I think what’s unfortunate about the trade deadline is the moment you start trading players away, is the realization that, unfortunately, you’ve missed your goal in a sense,” forward Garnet Hathaway told The Inquirer on Friday. “In no way am I saying that we’re not in a position to get in, but it changes things. But we were in a spot that we put ourselves in, and I think that’s what’s frustrating, and it kind of adds on to the fact that you’re sending friends, teammates to a different organization.”
The Flyers decided to keep defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen at the trade deadline.
So what happens now?
In the short term, the general manager wants to see his team continue to play the right way, stay competitive, and play hard. Long-term, the Flyers are still a work in progress, and “the plan never changed as far as looking for the future.”
Brière thinks the difference now is that the Flyers can change that.
“Three years ago, we almost had nothing to work with as far as good young players coming,” Brière said. “So it wasn’t enticing for other teams to trade guys to us, but more and more, the way our young guys are coming along and a lot of centers, those are always a lot of value.
“We have more and more assets that are going to hopefully give us the chance to get in on a player. Or sometimes one of those players [in the organization already] is going to come and take it, kind of like [Denver] Barkey did this year.”
News and notes
Barkey and defenseman Adam Ginning were sent down to the Phantoms before 3 p.m. to make them eligible to compete in the Calder Cup playoffs. According to the AHL transactions page, Barkey has already been recalled. The new collective bargaining agreement says players must play one AHL game before being recalled but there is an exception on deadline day.
Brière said they weren’t trying to trade Deslauriers, “but if you want to have the chance to go chase a Cup, we would give you that opportunity.” Deslauriers was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for a conditional seventh-round pick in 2027.
Veteran forward Luke Glendening, 36, was picked up on waivers from the New Jersey Devils to stabilize the fourth line and win face-offs. He has a 55.6% career winning percentage in the circle.
Tyson Foerster is on track with his rehab after surgery to repair an upper-body injury (Brière would not disclose what the injury was). The winger has started skating and shooting pucks, and the GM said, “I know he’s going to start knocking on my door soon to get back in the lineup.” But he is not expected to play again this season unless the Flyers make the postseason.
Defenseman Nick Seeler is day to day with a lower-body injury and is not expected to play on Saturday against the Penguins (5:30 p.m., NBCSP).
The Flyers are officially in the trade column, as they started to unclog their logjam on the wing by trading Bobby Brink to the Minnesota Wild for defenseman David Jiříček on Friday.
Although Rasmus Ristolainen, who ultimately was not moved, was the biggest name in play for the Flyers, many felt Brink could be moved ahead of the 3 p.m. trade deadline. Brink, who will be a restricted free agent at season’s end, also will relish the destination as he is a native of Minnetonka, Minn.
“He’s helped me a ton with my game, [and] hopefully he can say the same about me,” linemate Noah Cates said after the team’s practice in Voorhees. “Both being from Minnesota, there’s a lot of good things; it’s sad, but obviously happy. He’s going back home and going to a really good team.
“But definitely a shock, and still processing it. This still doesn’t feel too real. So, obviously, just a great kid, and [he] means a lot to me. So, hoping nothing but the best for him.”
Can confirm the reports, Bobby Brink is heading home to Minnesota. Heard this was a possibility yesterday. Defenseman David Jiricek is coming back in the deal.
The 24-year-old winger, who was a second-round pick in 2019, has 13 goals and 26 points in 55 games this season, and is on pace for a career-high 17 goals. Brink, who developed chemistry and increased his all-around effectiveness on a third line with Cates and Tyson Foerster the past few seasons, tallied 36 goals and 94 points in 201 career games with the Flyers.
It was quite a spell in Philly for Brink, who went from John Tortorella’s doghouse — the coach said two years ago that Brink couldn’t spell “check” and, interestingly enough, scratched him for what would have been his first game in Minnesota — to someone he relied on heavily.
“He’s come a long way,” captain Sean Couturier said in October. “We’ve always seen his offensive skills and his ability to make plays and create offense, but the defensive side and the reliability of him have really improved. Feels like he’s a complete player, can play in all situations, and he’s going on a nightly basis against top lines. So, credit to him for developing that side of the game.”
Cates did not see Brink before he left for Las Vegas, where the Wild play on Friday night, and hadn’t sent him a text just yet. But he will be seeing him on Thursday, when the Flyers are in Minnesota (8 p.m., NBCSP).
“He went through some tough times with Torts and being a younger player, smaller player, skilled player. And he really helped me,” Cates said. “And I think our games kind of meshed well together and found some good chemistry. … He grew a ton. And credit to him. He’s seen as a critical piece to the Wild that they want and for them to go on a playoff run. So, obviously, an awesome kid, and we’re going to miss him.”
Once known for his shot and overall offensive skills, David Jiříček has yet to fire at the NHL level.
Coming back the other way is the intriguing Jiříček, who will be joining a third team since being selected sixth overall — one pick after the Flyers selected Cutter Gauthier — in the 2022 NHL draft. The 6-foot-4, 204-pound blueliner has split time this season between Minnesota and its American Hockey League affiliate in Iowa and has no points in 25 NHL games and two goals and 10 points in 24 AHL contests.
Still just 22, Jiříček has yet to deliver on the promise that made him such a highly touted prospect in his draft year. Blessed with great range, puck skills, and a bomb of a shot, Jiříček’s combination of size, offensive ability, and edge has yet to translate since he moved over to North America.
The Flyers, who were known admirers of Jiříček in his draft year, still obviously believe he’s a worthy reclamation project, given his age and toolbox. With the Flyers likely to entertain trades this summer for Ristolainen, Jiříček, although a different player, could fill the size void and could be viewed as an heir apparent. The Flyers announced that Jiříček will report to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL to start.
The questions with Jiříček largely center on his foot speed and clunky skating. Alongside his injury history, they was the other concerns entering his draft and have only been magnified since he turned pro. He struggles to catch up when forwards get around him, and his decision-making often has gotten him in trouble in the NHL. He has bona fide power-play traits, but has yet to receive those opportunities.
It is worth noting that the Flyers are buying low on Jiříček, as Minnesota traded defenseman Daemon Hunt plus first-, second-, third- and fourth-round picks for Jiříček just 16 months ago.
Flyers make minor league swap
Forwards Massimo Rizzo and Alexis Gendron are shipping up to Boston in a swap with the Bruins that sees forward Brett Harrison and defenseman Jackson Edward heading to Philly. They will report to Lehigh Valley.
A native of London, Ontario, Harrison was a third-round pick by the Bruins in 2021 and has 19 goals and 49 points in 140 games across four seasons with the Providence Bruins. The 6-foot-3, 201-pound 22-year-old is having a career year with eight goals in 46 games and tied his career high of 17 points set last season.
Edward has spent most of the season with Maine of the ECHL, producing seven assists in 21 games. A native of Newmarket, Ontario, he was teammates with Oliver Bonk and Denver Barkey, the latter of whom also hails from Newmarket, with London of the Ontario Hockey League. The 6-foot-2, 201-pound blueliner was a seventh-round pick of the Bruins in 2022 and brings a physical game to the ice. The Elite Prospects draft guide said Edward is “violent, and he uses that violence to emphatically kill plays at the blue line and end the cycle.”
The NHL trade deadline passed at 3 p.m., but Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who appeared to be player most likely to be dealt, remains with the team.
Tyson Foerster hasn’t played since injuring his arm back in December, but GM Danny Brière said Friday that if the Flyers made the playoffs, the winger would be on track to return following surgery.
“Tyson is doing really well,” Brière said. “I think when we announced he had the surgery that he was going to be out until the playoffs, or somewhere [around] the beginning of the playoffs. He’s pretty much on pace. It would be nice if we could get in the playoff hunt, but so far it’s going well.
“He’s starting to skate and shoot pucks. It’s trending in the right direction. I know he’s going to start knocking on my door soon to get back in the lineup early, he’s just that type of person. He’s going to push to get back earlier, but it’s exciting.”
Sielski: Acquiring David Jiříček is worth the risk
David Jiříček is just 22 years old.
With one trade Friday morning, the Flyers got more interesting. Not immediately. They’re still likely to miss the playoffs this season, which would be the sixth in a row that they’ve failed to qualify for the postseason. For all that time and longer, they’ve been the NHL’s version of late-career Martin Scorsese: Back in the day, they were great and fascinating, and now they’re one suspenseless snoozefest after another. (Seriously, has Killers of the Flower Moon ended yet?)
Their decision to send winger Bobby Brink to the Minnesota Wild for defenseman David Jiříček was an eyebrow-raiser, though. The move in and of itself wasn’t all that surprising, in that the Flyers have a surplus of wingers both on their roster and in their farm system. They were bound to say goodbye to one of them at this trade deadline, and Brink was a prime candidate: At 24, he’s a relatively promising player on a cap-friendly contract.
No, the intrigue of the Brink trade comes from its context. It’s the latest thread in a larger pattern that general manager Danny Brière and team president Keith Jones have been weaving since they took control of the Flyers’ player-personnel department in 2023. Rather than having the team bottom out over a full season or two and ending up with a pick or picks that are at worst among the top five in their drafts, the Flyers are taking risks, some more calculated than others, by acquiring young players who were high draft picks for other clubs.
Flyers lost a ‘great teammate’ and a ‘heart and soul guy’ in Nic Deslauriers
Former Flyer Nic Deslauriers never backed down from a fight.
While the return for Nic Deslauriers isn’t much — a conditional seventh-round draft pick — the move was more about the organization doing right by a popular veteran who seemed to want a change of scenery and a chance to chase a Stanley Cup, which he certainly will get with the Metropolitan-leading Carolina Hurricanes.
“A great teammate, a great protector for our guys the last few years,” Danny Brière said of Deslauriers. “We had a discussion, him and I, Nic wasn’t looking to leave, he loves it here, I think he even said his family is not going anywhere, they’re staying in the area. But he said if you need to trade me, I’m open to it, I don’t have a problem. I said, look, we’re not trying to trade you, but if you want to have the chance to go chase a Cup, I’ll give you that opportunity.
“I had a chat with Carolina, they were interested, and Nic was interested as well. It was one of those things, Nic has earned that right, for everything that he’s done for his teammates, for our players, our organization, [I] thought it was the right thing to do for him.”
And those now-former teammates are glad to see Deslauriers get a chance to contend for a Cup.
“I’m happy for him. I think he still has gas in the tank, too,” forward Garnet Hathaway told The Inquirer on Friday after the Flyers’ practice, which Deslauriers participated in. “I see it every day. I see the work ethic, I see how much he cares, and I see the teammate he is. So Carolina has got a great player [and a ] great guy.”
Deslauriers’ time in Philly will be defined by his willingness to stand up for his teammates and take on all comers. Long one of the most feared and toughest customers in the league, the fourth-line winger managed nine goals and 20 points in 195 games with the Orange and Black. He also had 33 regular-season fights, including spirited bouts against heavyweights like Matt Rempe, Ryan Reaves, and Tanner Jeannot.
“One of the toughest guys in the league around. So we’ll definitely miss him,” center Noah Cates said.
He was also beloved by his teammates for his selflessness, toughness, leadership, and the space he created for teammates with his physicality. Whether Deslauriers will have a nightly spot in Carolina’s lineup remains to be seen, but he does bring a physicality and toughness that many have criticized the Hurricanes for lacking in recent playoff runs.
“A heart and soul guy who has your back no matter what, competes every night, and is a guy, regardless of how many minutes or how many games or how things are going, you know he’ll be a guy to support you, and will always be around to help too,” said Hathaway, who laughed when asked if he’s happy the Flyers don’t play the Hurricanes again this year.
“It’s probably tougher than most people think, to be so competitive, as I think all of us are in this league, and not have the role you want, or the ice time you want.
“And so be able to have that role, and personality-wise, not let it affect you, is special for a locker room to have and intricate for it to have, too. So I’m going to miss him.”
Briere believes Flyers have assets to go after top center in offseason
One of the things the Flyers need is a bonafide No. 1 center. They haven’t found one through the draft — but with the way some of their other young players are developing, Danny Brière believes the team may be close to having the assets to acquire one in the offseason.
“It’s all about value, and also your draft picks. As they get closer, you draft players, you get to know them, they become — they have more and more value,” Brière said. “It’s tougher to let them go, but at the same time, we have a lot of good young players who are coming. We have more and more assets. Three years ago, we almost had noithing to work with in terms of good young players coming, so it wasn’t enticing to other teams to trade young guys to us.
“But more and more with the way our young guys are coming along, and a lot of centers, those are always a lot of value, we have more and more assets. It’s going to hopefully get us a chance to get in on a player, or sometimes one of those players is just going to come and take it, like [Denver] Barkey did this year, surprised us a little bit. There’s going to be opportunities for our young guys to do that as well.”
Brière sees high potential with Jiříček, likens development to that of Jamie Drysdale
Jamie Drysdale, like Jiříček, entered the NHL at 18 years old.
Despite trading away an NHL player to acquire him, the Flyers announced that new defenseman David Jiříček will report to Lehigh Valley. The former top-10 draft pick hasn’t quite developed as quickly as some hoped — as evidenced by him joining his third team in the last four years — but general manager Danny Brière was optimistic that the 22-year-old defenseman will make an impact with the big club at some point.
Why? He pointed to the team’s development of another reclamation project: Jamie Drysdale.
“I think a little bit about Jamie Drysdale, totally different style of players, but I think about the development of Jamie Drysdale, where they both came in [to the NHL] at 18 years old, probably a bit too early to turn pro yet, go through some ups and downs, probably lose their confidence along the way,” Brière said. “He’s going to need some love, he’s going to need some reps, especially. He needs time, he needs to play a lot of minutes and build his confidence. The talent is there, it’s working with him.
“Defenseman, it seems, they need time. We saw it with Jamie, to see him kind of come into his own this year is really exciting, but we went through a learning curve with Jamie. I expect the same thing with David, we’re going to give him the chance to build his game, we’re going to work with him, I really like what Todd Reirden and Rick Tocchet’s staff has done with a lot of our young guys, especially Jamie, and I hope the same kind of wave can be on for David.”
As for whether or not he can make an impact this season, Brière said that remains to be seen. More important, he explained, is making sure Jiříček is ready to roll next season.
“I didn’t make him any promises [about NHL playing time], but yeah, at some point, if we have the chance I’d like to give him a look, give him a few games,” Brière added. “The most important, we felt, is for him to start in Lehigh, give him high minutes and lots of reps, and if things go well, I’d like to see him play a few games here, and get him ready for next season would be the ideal part.”
Once he does make the jump back to the NHL, the team thinks he could play a key role, especially if he’s able to return to the top-4 defenseman potential the Flyers saw when they considered drafting him with the fifth pick.
“The potential is high,” Briere said. “Yeah, he hasn’t maybe come out of his draft year as high as people expected, and look, that’s why he’s available as well. If he was playing like Matthew Schaefer we wouldn’t be talking about him. But we still see a high potential. You know, 21-22 year old, 6-foot-4 defensemen of his caliber are tough to find. We know we have to work with him, we need to be patient, we need to give him a bit of rope to develop him, but that’s why I go back to the Jamie Drysdale learning curve. [It] gives us hope that he can get on the same track and eventually become a difference maker for us.”
David Jiříček will hope the third home is a charm as he joins the Flyers after stops in Columbus and Minnesota.
It’s no secret that the Flyers have previously shown interest in defenseman David Jiříček, whom they acquired Friday for Bobby Brink. Chuck Fletcher nearly drafted him over Cutter Gauthier with the fifth pick in 2022. Then, last deadline, they were reported to be one of the teams interested in him when he was traded from Columbus to Minnesota.
“We inquired about him, we were in the mix before, when he was traded to Minnesota we were very interested,” GM Danny Brière admitted during his post-deadline press conference. “I didn’t think he was going to be available, all of a sudden we started talking to Minnesota, they liked Bobby, he’s from there too, so there’s something special. They knew Bobby very well because of him being from Minnesota, and all of a sudden the conversation turned to that.
“They paid a huge price for David when they acquired him — I think he was supposed to be part of their future, and then all of a sudden, they resigned [Kirill] Kaprizov, traded for Quinn Hughes, and everything opens up for them and they become contenders this year.
“David was a piece for them, because they thought he was not ready to play a big, heavy role that we just talked about yet, so he became a piece they could use to acquire someone who could help them. That’s kind of how it came around, and the price was reasonable at this point since we had so many wingers.”
Why did the Flyers keep Ristolainen? Brière explains.
The Flyers are keeping defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen.
Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen was considered to be the Flyer most likely on the move ahead of Friday’s deadline, but when the deadline passed, he was still with the team.
After practice, GM Danny Brière explained why the team stuck by their reportedly high asking price and ultimately didn’t move him.
“You guys made a big story, I didn’t know I was trying to sell him, but you guys made it sound like we were dumping Risto for next to nothing,” Briere said. “At the end of the day, Risto has a lot of value to our team. I wasn’t trying to dump Risto. I wasn’t trying to get rid of him. I think the media turned it into a little bit of a circus to be honest, and that’s OK. I get it’s part of the job, part of my job to deal with that.
“But the reality is, Risto is an important part of our defense. He’s still under contract next season, so we weren’t looking to dump him. Where do you find 6-foot-4, physical, top-4, right-shot defenseman? There’s not a lot [of them]. We saw it on the market, and when that came out, we did get a lot of calls. We took them seriously, and we went through all the teams that were serious, but at the end of the day it just did not make sense value-wise. There’s nothing that made more sense to trade him.
“Risto’s an important leader in our room. I can promise you that our guys prefer having him on their side than playing against him. He’s the type of defenseman that brings guys to the fight, he runs around, he hits guys, he pisses off the opponents, there’s a lot of value to that. At the end of the day, it made more sense, we listened, but it made more sense to have Risto with us.”
When asked if a first-round pick was ever on the table, Brière declined to comment, only saying that “the value wasn’t as high as we needed for us moving forward.”
As for whether or not keeping the 31-year-old blue-liner, who could still be dealt around the NHL draft in June, creates a logjam for the organization’s defensive prospects, Briere said they’ll worry about that when the time comes.
“When they’re ready, we’re going to make room for them, a little bit like the Bobby Brink trade,” he said, referring to the team’s other log jam at left wing. “We feel like guys are almost there and we’re trying to make a little bit of room. It’s the same thing, I can’t say that David [Jiříček] and Oliver Bonk are ready to come in today, especially in a top-4 position. It’s one thing to come in and play in a bottom pairing as they start, but they haven’t even done that yet. I think they need a little bit more time, and we need to protect them a little bit. You ask those two guys to come in and play — Risto’s playing top pairing with Sanheim right now. I don’t think it would be fair to ask David or Oliver to come in and play those minutes yet.
“We hope that at one point it comes to that, but I don’t think they’re ready for that role yet. Risto has shown since he’s come back that he can handle those minutes, he’s shown at the Olympics as well how valuable he can be for a team. We hope they get there, but we want to protect them.”
Danny Brière on Bobby Brink trade: ‘Not an easy one’
Flyers GM Danny Brière made a couple of moves ahead of Friday’s deadline.
Following the passing of the NHL trade deadline, Flyers general manager Danny Briere spoke to reporters at the team’s practice facility in Vorhees.
Here are this thoughts on the biggest deal the Flyers actually made on deadline day, trading Bobby Brink to Minnesota for defenseman David Jiříček …
“Not an easy one. I was part of the development staff when Bobby came along. We had some long discussions about his future and his career, so having been part of that, and seeing him blossom into the player he has become, selfishly there’s a lot of pride in that, so he wasn’t an easy one to let go of,” Briere said. “But when you look at the way our team is coming along, you look at the depth that we’re building on the wings — [Travis] Konecny, [Matvei] Michkov, [Owen] Tippett, [Trevor] Zegras; Tyson [Foerster], who’s going to come back next season; [Porter] Martone that’s getting close; [Denver] Barkey, who surprised us this year in how well he’s played; you have Alex Bump; and then other guys behind that who are also pushing.
“It’s tough, at some point we were going to have to make a change or trade some wingers for other positions. When that came in yesterday, we started thinking it’s a chance to add a big, young, strong defenseman like David, we felt that’s a good opportunity to look toward the future and add another hopefully big piece down the road to our D-core, adding the size.”
Right wing Bobby Brink (right) celebrates a goal with former teammate Noah Cates. Brink was traded to Minnesota on Friday.
Bobby Brink’s former linemate Noah Cates discussed the departure of the winger, who was traded to the Wild on Friday, after the team’s practice in Vorhees.
“He’s helped me a ton with my game [and] hopefully he can say the same about me. Both being from Minnesota, there’s a lot of good things; it’s sad, but obviously happy, he’s going back home and going to a really good team. But definitely a shock, and still processing it. This still doesn’t feel too real. So, obviously, just a great kid, and [he] means a lot to me. So, hoping nothing but the best for him.”
Cates did not see Brink before he left for Las Vegas, where the Wild play on Friday night, and hadn’t sent him a text just yet. But he will be seeing him next Thursday, when the Flyers are in Minnesota (8 p.m., NBCSP).
“He went through some tough times with Torts and being a younger player, smaller player, skilled player. And he really helped me,” Cates said. “And I think our games kind of meshed well together and found some good chemistry. … He grew a ton. And credit to him. He’s seen as a critical piece to the Wild that they want, and for them to go on a playoff run. So obviously, an awesome kid, and we’re going to miss him.”
The team’s captain, Sean Couturier, also saw considerable growth from Brink during his time with the Flyers.
“He’s come a long way,” Couturier said back in October. “We’ve always seen his offensive skills and his ability to make plays and create offense, but the defensive side and the reliability of him have really improved. Feels like he’s a complete player, can play in all situations, and he’s going on a nightly basis against top lines. So, credit to him for developing that side of the game.”
A year after the Flyers traded Scott Laughton to the Maple Leafs, the forward is on the move again. According to Elliotte Friedman, Toronto is sending Laughton to the Los Angeles Kings for a third-round draft pick. That pick can become a second-rounder if the Kings make the playoffs, according to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan.
Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen was not moved at the deadline as the team couldn’t find someone to match their asking price.
It’s after 3 p.m., and Rasmus Ristolainen is still a Flyer. The team elected to hold onto the right-handed defenseman at the deadline, after it was reported that no team met the high price the Flyers were looking for in a deal, which was reportedly at least a first round pick and a prospect. This is the third straight year that Ristolainen has been the subject of trade talks, and the third time the team opted not to move him.
Ristolainen still has one more year on his contract at an affordable $5.1 million a season, and could be a trade piece in the offseason or at next year’s deadline. He played in 24 games this year and has been regularly hurt during his five-season tenure with the Flyers, including an upper body injury that sidelined him for the first 31 games this season.
General manager Danny Brière will speak shortly on the deadline and why the team decided to hang on to Ristolainen.
While some deals could trickle in in the next few minutes — assuming they were made before 3 p.m. — it appears the Flyers are done for the day.
Gone are Bobby Brink and Nic Deslauriers, while the Flyers added David Jiricek and a conditional seventh-round pick. The Flyers also traded minor leaguers Alexis Gendron and Massimo Rizzo for Bruins minor leaguers Brett Harrison and Jackson Edward, and reportedly picked up forward Luke Glendening off waivers from the Devils.
With Bobby Brink and Nic Deslauriers both on the way out at the trade deadline, the Flyers reportedly picked up forward Luke Glendening off waivers from the Devils.
Glendening is a 36-year-old center known for being elite at the face-off dot, with a career 55.5% win percentage, and good on the penalty kill. He’s a depth center option for the fourth line, which as of late has been centered by winger Carl Grundstrom.
The Flyers have dealt Nic Deslauriers to the Carolina Hurricanes ahead of the deadline for a conditional pick.
Can confirm the reports, #Flyers forward Nic Deslauriers has been traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for a conditional pick. As Deslauriers told me the other day, he thinks he still has some gas in the tank.https://t.co/3T9dl2YaeZ
Just 16 months ago, the Wild traded a player and four draft picks (one from each of the first four rounds) to the Blue Jackets for David Jiříček.
While David Jiříček is the newest Flyer, the defenseman is a familiar figure to many holdovers from the Chuck Fletcher era that remain in the Flyers’ front office, including general manager Danny Brière and assistant GM and head of scouting Brent Flahr.
Why? The Flyers were high on Jiříček entering the 2022 NHL draft, with many believing that the decision at Pick No. 5 ultimately came down to Cutter Gauthier and Jiříček, with the Flyers selecting Gauthier and Jiříček going a pick later to Columbus. Fast forward nearly four years and the roles are reversed, as Gauthier is gone and Jiříček is a Flyer.
There were also reports that the Flyers kicked the tires on acquiring Jiříček in 2024 when he was traded to Minnesota for a massive haul that included defenseman Daemon Hunt and first-, second-, third-, and fourth-round picks. While some more of the luster has worn off Jiříček now that he’s flopped with a second organization, from an assets management standpoint, the Flyers acquiring him for just Brink seems like a win considering what he cost the Wild just 16 months ago.
The Flyers are big on reclamation projects — Owen Tippett, Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale — and they obviously believe Jiříček, 22, has the offensive tools to still reach his potential as a top-four NHL defenseman.
Nick Sirianni doppelganger, Nick Foligno, is on the move
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, left, and Chicago Blackhawks left wing Nick Foligno, right, look so similar that they went as each other for Halloween.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is staying put, but Nick Foligno, the man who dressed like the Eagles coach for Halloween — and who Sirianni returned the favor by dressing like during his own trick or treating — is headed to a new city.
NEWS: The Blackhawks have traded forward Nick Foligno to the Wild, a source tells The Athletic.
“I had a good laugh,” Foligno said of his reaction to seeing the Eagles coach dressed as him. “He was a great sport about it. I give him credit, especially in the Philly sports market, to rip a Chicago Blackhawks [jersey]. But I think it shows his personality. He gained a lot of points in my eyes just for the fun of it.”
Foligno was scheduled to come to Philly later this month with the Blackhawks and hoped to meet Sirianni in person. While the Flyers head to Minnesota next week, the Wild aren’t scheduled to play in Philly again this season. So it appears a meeting of between the two Nicks will have to wait.
The Flyers traded minor leaguers Alexis Gendron and Massimo Rizzo for Brett Harrison and Jackson Edward from the Bruins. Harrison was a third-round pick in 2021, and spent most of his career with the Providence Bruins. Edward was drafted in the seventh round of the 2022 draft, and has bounced between the ECHL Maine Mariners and Providence.
Gendron has spent three seasons playing with Lehigh Valley, and Rizzo, who was acquired from Carolina in 2023, has played for both Lehigh and the ECHL Reading Royals.
TRADE ALERT: We’ve acquired forward Brett Harrison & defenseman Jackson Edward from the Boston Bruins in exchange for forwards Alexis Gendron & Massimo Rizzo.
The Flyers traded right wing Bobby Brink to the Minnesota Wild on Friday.
The Flyers traded Bobby Brink to Minnesota in exchange for defenseman David Jiříček, swinging a middle-six winger for a high-upside defenseman who hasn’t found his footing yet in the NHL. So, who actually won the trade?
For a team with a glut of winger prospects coming up — most notably last year’s No. 6 overall pick Porter Martone — Brink became expendable to acquire players in positions of weakness, like defense. At this stage, Jiříček is more of a reclamation project than a top prospect, but the Flyers swung on Trevor Zegras and he’s bounced back into an elite player. Could the same happen with Jiříček?
Here’s what a few hockey analysts had to say about Jiříček and the deal …
David Jiricek, acquired by PHI, is a developing offensive defenceman. Legit puck skill but defensive awareness, risk management, and especially skating have held him back from carving out more than a sheltered depth role. pic.twitter.com/4m2D09wet7
Love this trade for Minnesota. Bobby Brink is a sneaky good add that fits their ever-present defensive identity. Not a Jiricek believer pic.twitter.com/F7rN0GDf9S
David Jiricek, acquired by the Flyers, was my third-ranked Wild prospect in my upcoming pool rankings.
He's a big right-shot D with a big point shot and a desire to play a commanding game, but bad feet and inconsistent reads have limited his ability to do it at the NHL level.
Meanwhile, Erik Johnson, who spent parts of the past two seasons with the Flyers before retiring and joining ESPN as an analyst, thinks the Wild made out in the deal to acquire the Minnesota native.
Great move by the Wild. I played with Bobby and he is underrated. Defensive game has improved a ton. Can trust him on both ends of the rink. Great kid.
The Flyers acquired Minnesota Wild defenseman David Jiricek ahead of the trade deadline.
The Flyers have traded Bobby Brink to the Minnesota Wild for defenseman David Jiříček. So who did they get back?
Jiříček was drafted sixth overall in the 2022 NHL draft by Columbus, but has struggled to stick in the NHL. He was traded to Minnesota in November 2024. In 2025-26, he has played 25 games with the Wild, scoring no points, and 24 games with the AHL Iowa Wild, with two goals and eight assists.
During his draft year, Jiříček, a righty, was praised for his offensive skills, especially his hard shot, but he’s struggled to establish those tools at the NHL level.
The Flyers are officially in the trade column, as the team started to unclog its logjam on the wing by trading Bobby Brink to the Minnesota Wild for defenseman David Jiříček, a source confirmed to The Inquirer on Friday morning.
While Rasmus Ristolainen was the biggest name in play for the Flyers heading into Friday, Brink was another player that many felt could be moved ahead of the 3 p.m. trade deadline. Brink, who was set to be a restricted free agent at season’s end, will also relish the destination as he is a native of Minnetonka, Minn.
The 24-year-old winger, who was a second-round pick in 2019, has 13 goals and 26 points in 55 games this season, and was on pace for a career-high 17 goals. Brink, who really developed chemistry and increased his all-around effectiveness on a third line with Noah Cates and Tyson Foerster the past few seasons, tallied 36 goals and 94 points in 201 career games with the Orange and Black.
Nic Deslauriers has been a good soldier since signing a four-year, $7 million deal in July or 2022. One of the league’s toughest and most feared customers, the 35-year-old has played a hard and physical game and has fought 33 times as a Flyer, many of which were in defense of or to stand up for fallen teammates.
The Flyers could look to do right by the popular veteran and trade him to a team where he can get more ice time and play a regular role. Deslauriers, who has only played in 24 of the Flyers’ 61 games this season, would be a particularly good fit for a team looking for someone to protect their youngsters and help mentor them off the ice.
Deslauriers told Jackie Spiegel recently he still thinks “I have some in the gas tank” and hopes to play a few more years. But with the Flyers upgrading American Hockey League tough guy Garrett Wilson’s contract to an NHL one on Thursday, it looks like his time with the Flyers is coming to an end.
Was Thursday night’s loss to the Mammoth the final game in a Flyers jersey for defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen?
The list of potential landing spots for Rasmus Ristolainen, the Flyers’ rugged right-shot defenseman, shrunk overnight. With Buffalo adding a pair of big blueliners in Logan Stanley and righty Luke Schenn, and Anaheim making a surprising move for veteran righty John Carlson, you can cross two more potential suitors off the list. This came after Dallas, Edmonton, and Utah, three other clubs that had been linked with Ristolainen, made moves for defensemen in recent days.
Detroit and Boston now seem to be the two most likely trade partners for Danny Brière. The Red Wings and Bruins are both well-stocked when it comes to future first-round picks and young centers and defensemen. Detroit center prospect Nate Danielson would be an intriguing name for the Flyers, as would 6-foot-7, 230-pound Bruins pivot Dean Letourneau. The Bruins, who have four first-rounders over the next two years, are also dangling 21-year-old center Matthew Poitras and 25-year-old offensive defenseman Mason Lohrei in potential trades.
The Flyers are still holding out for a first-rounder plus an A- or B-level prospect in return for the Finnish defenseman. Ristolainen, 31, has one more year remaining on his contract and carries a $5.1 million cap hit. The Flyers could offer to retain 50% of Ristolainen’s deal to sweeten the pot as well.
Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen could be on the move ahead of the trade deadline.
It’s deadline day.
The Flyers, six points out of the last wild card spot, are expected to be sellers, and the loudest rumors have surrounded defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who has another year on his contract at $5.1 million after this one. That extra year could keep him in Philadelphia past the deadline if Danny Brière doesn’t get the offer he wants.
“I can’t really control that,” Ristolainen said after Thursday’s loss to the Mammoth. “I just try to come in here every day, and obviously tomorrow, we’ll see what happens.”
The d-market has been moving in the lead-up to 3 p.m., with the Capitals trading John Carlson to Anaheim in the dead of night for a conditional first-round pick. The Sabres acquired Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn after striking out with Colton Parayko, and the Stars acquired Tyler Myers earlier in the week.
Other Flyers who could potentially be moved are wingers Bobby Brink and Owen Tippett, and pending free agents Garnet Hathaway and Nic Deslauriers.
Capitals trade John Carlson to the Ducks in ‘jaw-dropping’ move
The Washington Capitals traded defenseman John Carlson to the Anaheim Ducks early Friday morning.
John Carlson is going to the Anaheim Ducks as part of a surprising deal from the Washington Capitals agreed to just after midnight on NHL trade deadline day.
Anaheim sent a conditional first-round pick in either this or next year’s draft plus a 2027 third-rounder to Washington for Carlson, a 36-year-old defenseman who has only played in the league for the Capitals since 2009 and helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2018.
Longtime hockey insider and former Daily News reporter Frank Seravalli called the move “jaw-on-the-floor shocking,” describing it as the “end of an era in Washington.”
“John Carlson brings leadership, character, a high hockey IQ and a presence to our lineup,” Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said. “We are very excited to add a Stanley Cup winner to complement our group and make a big push down the stretch.”
Carlson is a pending free agent without a contract beyond this year but was not expected to get moved before the deadline. He joins the Ducks as they look to end a seven-year playoff drought.
With a surplus of wings, the Flyers could move Owen Tippett ahead of the trade deadline.
The Flyers aren’t moving Dan Vladař, Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim, Matvei Michkov, Trevor Zegras, or top prospect Porter Martone, but everyone else would seem to be — and should be — in play.
Topping that list is rugged but oft-injured defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who has been on the trade block each of the past two seasons but has so far stayed put. The 31-year-old doesn’t fit the team’s timeline, has a year remaining on his contract, and is exactly the type of player that contenders tend to overpay for due to his physicality and “playoff brand of hockey.”
Trading him at this deadline would at minimum land a second-rounder and a legit prospect, and potentially a first-rounder. The Flyers should look to cash in on the 6-foot-4, 208-pound Finn on the heels of his eye-catching Olympics and should be seeking a first-round pick or a high-end center or blueline prospect in return.
The Flyers also have a surplus of wings with Konecny, Michkov, Zegras, Tyson Foerster, Owen Tippett, Bobby Brink, Denver Barkey, and Nikita Grebenkin, and more on the way, headlined by Martone and Alex Bump. Sooner or later the Flyers are going to have to make room for guys, and parting with Tippett or Brink would start that process and recoup the Flyers something in return, potentially at a position of need.
With teams always looking for a scoring punch this time of year, trading the 27-year-old Tippett, who is cost-controlled for the next six seasons and on his way to a third 25-plus-goal season in four years, would yield the largest return, assuming Konecny and Zegras are off limits. The Flyers reportedly have a high ask on the speedy Tippett, including a first-round pick, but could a package that includes a center be enticing? The Flyers could opt to hold fast for a better return at the draft, when this type of trade may be easier to complete, but trading a winger or two before next season seems inevitable.
The Flyers don’t seem willing to meet the high price for St. Louis Blues All-Star Robert Thomas, but Detroit’s Nate Danielson, Minnesota’s Danila Yurov and Charlie Stramel, Buffalo’s Noah Ostlund, Tampa Bay’s Conor Geekie, and Seattle’s Shane Wright are some younger center prospects who could be available in a package involving Ristolainen, Tippett, or someone else.
In addition to trying to move pending unrestricted free agents Nic Deslauriers, Noah Juulsen, and Carl Grundström, the Flyers could explore trading depth center Noah Cates or restricted free agent defensemen Jamie Drysdale and Emil Andrae, all young players with runways to improve who would generate some interest around the league. Like Ristolainen, Cates is a player that contending teams could view as a final piece due to his versatility, penalty killing, and two-way play. Andrae looks to be in need of a change of scenery and could be swapped for a player in a similar boat.
Nick Seeler would have some value as a steady, stay-at-home defenseman, but the 32-year-old, who is currently nicked up, would have to waive his no-move clause. Maligned backup goalie Sam Ersson also could be offloaded for a mid-round pick, especially if the team has already decided it won’t extend a qualifying offer to the pending free agent.
Flyers trade talk: Rasmus Ristolainen, Bobby Brink, and others
There’s a good chance the Flyers trade away defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen.
The NHL trade deadline is Friday at 3 p.m. and there are plenty of questions on how the Flyers will approach it. Ahead of the deadline, Inquirer reporter Jackie Spiegel took to Reddit to answer fans’ questions ahead of the deadline. Here are some highlights from her Reddit AMA — “Ask Me Anything” — on Wednesday.
Q: There’s been a lot of talk about selling at the deadline, with guys like Owen Tippett and Rasmus Ristolainen as top candidates. Is there anyone else who might be on the block and could be a ‘surprise’ player dealt at the deadline?
A. It’s a good chance that Ristolainen is gone with how he’s been playing, his friendly contract, the farm system, and that he’s a right-shot defenseman. Tippett is less of a sure bet as he brings elements — size, speed, goal-scoring ability — that any team, including the Flyers, would want. However, Tippett does have a modified no-trade clause that begins on July 1, so if they’re going to do it, time is ticking.
The Flyers do have a logjam on the wings, and one surprise, at least for this week, could be Bobby Brink, who has long been rumored to be on the way out because of who is waiting in the wings. There’s always a chance Danny Brière could do right by some veterans like Noah Juulsen and Nic Deslauriers, each on expiring contracts, and trade them to a contender looking for depth.
Q. Where do you see us getting an actual top-line center option from and what would it realistically take?
A. This is a great question. I think part of the issue for the Flyers is that they were banking on this upcoming offseason to get that No. 1 center and all those guys inked extensions. Could Trevor Zegras be that guy? Maybe. Could they swing for a Robert Thomas? Maybe, but from what I’ve been told, that deal would require sending at least one of the Flyers’ young centers in the system the other way. I’m starting to wonder if a true No. 1 center is needed, because if you have enough talented high-end wingers — like Tyson Foerster, Martone, Travis Konecny, Matvei Michkov, Tippett — maybe a less elite center works too?
Q. What do the Flyers plan to do about Sean Couturier?
A. From what I can tell, there are zero plans for Couturier. From the outside, yes, his production is down, but a lot of that, in my opinion, has to do with his focus on defense as he lets his younger, more skilled wingers take charge offensively. And heading into the return from the Olympic break, his analytics were actually some of the best on the team. There’s also the leadership in the room that fans do not see. As assistant coach Todd Reirden mentioned, while he was taking over media responsibilities with Rick Tocchet at the Olympics, Couturier’s “voice carries a lot of weight. He’s not [a captain] that’s rah rah, but when he does talk, no one’s not listening. I can tell you that much. So he’s the leader of our team for a reason.”
The Flyers’ chances ending their five-season playoff drought became a bit slimmer Thursday night after their 3-0 loss to the Utah Mammoth.
Eight teams in the Eastern Conference will move forward to the NHL playoffs – the top three teams in each division, plus two wild cards.
The Flyers currently sit in sixth place in the Metropolitan Division 6 points out of a playoff spot. But with 21 games remaining on their schedule, the odds of making the playoffs are slim but not impossible. The New York Times currently pegs the Flyers’ chances of a postseason berth at 14%.
Metropolitan Division
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Eastern Conference
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With just over 48 hours remaining until the 2026 NHL trade deadline, Inquirer Flyers reporter Jackie Spiegel hopped on r/Flyers to field some fan questions in a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) Wednesday afternoon. Here are a few highlights …
(Questions have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.)
Q. There’s been a lot of talk about selling at the deadline, with guys like Owen Tippett and Rasmus Ristolainen as top candidates. Is there anyone else who might be on the block and could be a ‘surprise’ player dealt at the deadline?
A. It’s a good chance that Ristolainen is gone with how he’s been playing, his friendly contract, the farm system, and that he’s a right-shot defenseman. Tippett is less of a sure bet as he brings elements — size, speed, goal-scoring ability — that any team, including the Flyers, would want. However, Tippett does have a modified no-trade clause that begins on July 1, so if they’re going to do it, time is ticking.
The Flyers do have a logjam on the wings, and one surprise, at least for this week, could be Bobby Brink, who has long been rumored to be on the way out because of who is waiting in the wings. There’s always a chance Danny Brière could do right by some veterans like Noah Juulsen and Nic Deslauriers, each on expiring contracts, and trade them to a contender looking for depth.
Owen Tippett is a potential trade candidate for the Flyers
Q. At what point do we finally trade away some of our right wings to fix the log jam we have? And why is it taking so long?
A. The expectation was always that this process would begin over the summer, but it could come sooner. Names like Brink and Tippett have popped up in recent trade-deadline chatter. The only crux of trading Brink now is his size, as playoff teams are always looking to get bigger this time of year, but he is a pending restricted free agent. … But there is no denying that the Flyers need to make room for right winger Porter Martone.
As to why it has taken this long — you can’t trade someone if you don’t have someone ready to take the spot. Some of the wait was the hope of reeling in a big fish during this summer’s free agency — that is gone — but more recently, the wait has been on Martone, with all signs pointing to him inking his entry-level contract once Michigan State’s season is over.
Q. Where do you see us getting an actual top-line center option from and what would it realistically take?
A. This is a great question. I think part of the issue for the Flyers is that they were banking on this upcoming offseason to get that No. 1 center and all those guys inked extensions. Could Trevor Zegras be that guy? Maybe. Could they swing for a Robert Thomas? Maybe, but from what I’ve been told, that deal would require sending at least one of the Flyers’ young centers in the system the other way. I’m starting to wonder if a true No. 1 center is needed, because if you have enough talented high-end wingers — like Tyson Foerster, Martone, Travis Konecny, Matvei Michkov, Tippett — maybe a less elite center works too?
Sean Couturier has been the Flyers captain for a little over two years.
Q. What do the Flyers plan to do about Sean Couturier? Having the captain of the team be the guy farthest from living up to his contract and visibly frustrated seems like a less-than-ideal leadership situation. Not to mention he’s signed for four more seasons after this one and his contract is buyout proof.
A. From what I can tell, there are zero plans for Couturier. From the outside, yes, his production is down, but a lot of that, in my opinion, has to do with his focus on defense as he lets his younger, more skilled wingers take charge offensively. And heading into the return from the Olympic break, his analytics were actually some of the best on the team. There’s also the leadership in the room that fans do not see. As assistant coach Todd Reirden mentioned, while he was taking over media responsibilities with Rick Tocchet at the Olympics, Couturier’s “voice carries a lot of weight. He’s not [a captain] that’s rah rah, but when he does talk, no one’s not listening. I can tell you that much. So he’s the leader of our team for a reason.”
Q. If you had to look for a funny quote for a story after a win who would be your best bet on the team this year?
A. This is a great question. Funny is good, but what we call money bites (at least that was the term when I worked in TV) are always better. Dan Vladař is always good for that and usually has a funny quote or two. Zegras is always on with a quick, funny response. And Garnet Hathaway is always insightful, but brings a good quote too.
WASHINGTON ― It feels like it’s been 84 years since the Flyers last played an NHL game.
On Wednesday night against the Washington Capitals, they kicked off the final 26 games of the season. Entering the night, Philly sat four points back of Washington — with three games in hand — and eight points back of a playoff spot.
By the end of the night, the Flyers were six points back of Washington, after losing 3-1 at the Capital One Arena. They remain eight points back of the idle New York Islanders and Boston Bruins, and have a game in hand on the Islanders.
Trevor van Riemsdyk scored the decisive goal, giving the Capitals a 2-1 lead with 5 minutes, 52 seconds left in regulation. Off the rush, Declan Chisholm dropped the puck to Aliaksei Protas and got it back near the left post. He then hit van Riemsdyk, the brother of former Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk, as he crashed the net.
As coach Rick Tocchet noted postgame, the Flyers came out with some pep in their step to start the game. “The first nine minutes we were dominating,” he said. But they were unable to capitalize until the third period, when Noah Cates deflected a shot by Travis Sanheim 29 seconds in.
Rasmus Ristolainen applied pressure, creating a turnover to Matvei Michkov, who found Bobby Brink. The winger carried it down into the left face-off circle before hitting Sanheim for the quick shot, which Cates deflected past goalie Logan Thompson. Cates tied the game at one — and ended an 18-game goal drought.
“I didn’t like my January,” said Cates, whose last goal came Dec. 30. “I thought the team struggled as well, and I feel like when I struggle, the team struggles. You just want to get out of it and get going.
“So to get that goal and feel good about our line, we were making some plays and just playing the right way, playing how we can play with Bobby [Brink] and [Michkov]. So, yeah, good to get going.”
The trio had several other chances, notably in the third period when Brink, while under pressure, sent a cross-crease pass to Michkov alone at the right post. Thompson robbed him of a sure goal as he stretched across and made a toe save. According to Natural Stat Trick, when they were on the ice at five-on-five, the Flyers had 10 shot attempts, a game-high 1.05 expected Goals For, and nine scoring chances.
Philly did put 24 shots on Thompson, with 18 coming in the first two periods, but couldn’t find the back of the net. Dan Vladař kept them in the game all night.
The goaltender told The Inquirer on Sunday that he “wasn’t the best” in his one game at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, a 6-3 win against France, when he allowed the trio of goals on 12 shots for Czechia. So maybe he had something to prove.
Vladař faced seven shots in the first period, and robbed the owner of 919 NHL goals, Alex Ovechkin, of his 920th. “The Great 8″ was left wide-open in front after Ristolainen had the puck poked away from him in the corner by Dylan Strome, who fed Ovechkin. Vladař then stopped Strome’s point shot as Travis Konecny’s clearing attempt went right to him.
“He gives us a lot of confidence. He was making huge saves out there for us,” center Christian Dvorak said. “He’s been doing that all year, and it would have been nice to get him a win tonight. He definitely deserved it. He’s been big for us, and we just got to work on being better for our goalies.”
In the second period, the Capitals outshot the Flyers 12-9 and seemed to have the ice tilted their way. Although they broke through once — and missed the net a few more times — Vladař came up big again to keep the score close.
He stopped a point shot by Ethan Frank off a face-off win, kicked out a Ryan Leonard shot to the boards, and then seconds later made a masterful stop on another shot by Leonard.
Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar (bottom) was a bit shaken up after defenseman Nick Seeler (24) fell over him late in the second period.
Later, Vladař made a save on a Brandon Duhaime shot from nine feet out, and Nick Seeler pushed it back for him to cover. But there was a bit of a scramble, and Seeler fell over him, and the goalie seemed a bit stung. He flexed his right arm at the next whistle but stayed in the game.
Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin scored the Capitals’ opening goal in the period. Philly regrouped and reset after a three-on-two by Washington — and Michkov broke up a pass in front, but then allowed the blueliner to skate down from the point behind him. Hendrix Lapierre found him for the 1-0 goal.
And while he again allowed a goal in the third period, Vladař kept his team in the game. With the Flyers on the penalty kill, Pierre-Luc Dubois got the puck near the net and turned to take a shot, but Vladař was aggressive with the stick and poked it away. He was tracking the puck well all night and seconds later squared up to snare a Strome tip-in attempt on a point shot.
With the game tied, he robbed Lapierre, who got a return touch pass from Duhaime in the slot after the Flyers couldn’t break out of their own end.
“He’s a battler,” Tocchet said. “He’s done it all year for us. But the lateral goals are the tough ones; we don’t want to give those up. That’s the one thing. Vladdy’s played really well for us, but if we eliminate those that will really help. It’ll help Vladdy, too, [because] those laterals are tough to save.”
Protas added a short-handed empty-net goal with 25.6 seconds left in the game. … Defenseman Emil Andrae and forward Nic Deslauriers were the Flyers’ healthy scratches. What does Andrae, who hasn’t played since Jan. 26, need to do to get back into the lineup? “He’s not a PK guy,” said Tocchet pregame. “So actually, this week, he’s worked on his penalty killing. That’s really what it’s going to come down to.“ … Forward Carl Grundström, who has been playing wing all season, centered the fourth line. … The Flyers went 1-for-1 on the penalty kill and 0-for-2 on the power play.
Up next
The Flyers’ restart is already grinding away as they face the New York Rangers on Thursday at Madison Square Garden (8 p.m., ESPN).
SANDY, Utah ― Was Bobby Brink the Flyers’ good luck charm?
Without Brink, the Flyers lost six straight. After he returned Monday, they snapped the skid and beat the Vegas Golden Knights, a team that was on a seven-game heater.
“I don’t think we changed anything,” he said Tuesday after the Flyers had a high-tempo practice at the Utah Mammoth’s practice facility near the picturesque Wasatch Mountains. “Sometimes you’re going to go through tough stretches [and] you play a long season. The way we were playing worked for us earlier in the year; it’ll work again. So, I think we showed that [Monday] night, didn’t change a thing, and it worked out for us.”
While Brink will, of course, not take any credit for being a catalyst, the coach did think his return helped boost the Flyers’ game.
“Really, really well,” Rick Tocchet said of Brink’s game.
“Bobby, for a guy that’s been out for a couple of weeks with that injury … I just like his speed to the middle. I mean, it’s noticeable when you’re on the bench, when you have those guys that can carry that puck with speed, separate, and transport the puck. We missed that speed from him.”
That injury was a concussion.
The Flyers forward missed the entire six-game losing streak after getting blindsided by Jansen Harkins in the first period of the Flyers’ 5-2 victory against the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 6.
It was the first time in his hockey career that he dealt with this type of injury.
“A concussion is never easy,” he said Tuesday. “It’s a different type of injury than a lot of, maybe arms and legs and stuff. But the medical staff was good to me, and we got through it, and now I’m back playing.”
Concussion recovery is not a straight line. Steps and milestones must be met in a graded return-to-play progression before one can put a game jersey back on.
“Just slowly kind of work up to game-level again,” he said of the ramping-up process. “Try to keep the symptoms to the least amount that you can and try not to elevate them as you’re working. Work on some vision stuff and balance, and try to rewire the brain to make it feel good again.”
Bobby Brink missed six games with a concussion after taking a blindside hit against Anaheim on Jan. 6.
According to the NHL’s concussion evaluation and management protocol, a player can only return when he does not have symptoms at rest, the symptoms do not return when he exerts himself at an NHL game’s pace, and the team’s doctors confirm he has returned to neurological and neurocognitive baselines.
Although Tocchet said they may monitor his ice time because of the injury, Brink skated 13 minutes, 28 seconds Monday, including more than two minutes on the power play. Tocchet did say some of his cut-back ice time was due to the exorbitant amount of penalties (seven) the Flyers took in the game. Brink had one shot on goal, two missed shots, and blocked two more.
The trio played together in nine games before Brink got hurt, beginning on Dec. 16 in Montreal. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Flyers scored five goals and allowed one with a 64.63% expected goal share. On Monday, when they were on the ice against the Golden Knights, the Flyers had seven shot attempts and allowed eight. They outshot the opposition 4-2, but allowed two scoring chances.
“It’s never fun sitting and watching, so it was good to be able to kind of come back and get in the game and go to battle with the guys,” Brink said.
Brink has 11 goals and 20 points in 42 games this season. The 24-year-old is one goal away from tying his career high set last season in 79 games and is shooting a career-best 15.3%. He is tied with Cates for the team lead in game-winning goals and has four points on the power play.
Breakaways
Forward Sean Couturier did not participate in Tuesday’s practice. “Maintenance day,” Tocchet said. “Just wanted to give him a rest.” … Goalie Dan Vladař did not participate in practice but did skate on his own on the other rink in Utah during the team’s practice time. Vladař was placed on injured reserve on Monday after suffering an undisclosed injury in the Flyers’ loss to the Buffalo Sabres last Wednesday. … Asked about Rodrigo Ābols, Tocchet didn’t want to say he would be out for months, “but it was a pretty tough injury.” Ābols was injured Saturday against the New York Rangers when he appeared to get his right toe stuck in the ice along the boards in the offensive zone, and his ankle buckled. He was unable to put weight on the leg as he was helped off. One of the first players named to Latvia’s team for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, he was replaced on the nation’s roster on Sunday.
LAS VEGAS ― The Flyers’ chips are down right now, but do they have a wild card up their sleeve?
Bobby Brink is hopeful to return Monday night when the Flyers take on the Vegas Golden Knights (8 p.m., NBCSP+). The Flyers activated Brink from injured reserve about an hour before puck drop.
“Bobby’s got a good shot to get in,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said during his pregame availability. “He had a good day today, so [it] looks like he’s going to go in for us.”
The forward missed the entire six-game losing streak due to an upper-body injury suffered in the Flyers’ last win, a 5-2 victory against the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 6. In the first period of the game, Brink was blindsided by Jansen Harkins and did not return.
While Brink did not travel on the Flyers’ last road trip to Buffalo and Pittsburgh, he did practice on Sunday at T-Mobile Arena. At practice, he was back on a line with Matvei Michkov and Noah Cates.
“Having Bobby back, he’s a pretty smart kid,” Tocchet said. “He’s a quick kid. He adds more speed through the lineup for a forward position, which is good. [It] helps us there. I think he’s anxious, excited to play. It’s been a while.”
In a corresponding move, Dan Vladař was placed on injured reserve. There was no update on the goalie, who was injured in the Flyers’ loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday. The move is retroactive to Jan. 14, so he is eligible to be activated seven days after that date.
On a positive note, Vladař did make the trip to Nevada after Tocchet said that if he wasn’t going to play at all on the three-game road trip, then he wouldn’t travel.
“At this point, I’d say day to day,” Tocchet said Saturday regarding the goaltender’s status. “It depends [on] how he feels after therapy. So it’s like, one of those things every 24 hours … you get better or not? What percentage? So it’s hard to really pinpoint things exactly.”
The coach said that the game against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday (9 p.m., NBCSP) was a possibility. The Flyers also play the Utah Mammoth on Wednesday (9 p.m., NBCSP).
“He was on the ice today,” said Tocchet, updating his status on Monday. “He had a good day. So that’s good, that’s a good [one] for us. So, we’ll see the next couple of days how it reacts. But seemed like he had a good day today.”
Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar was moved to injured reserve. He is eligible to be activated beginning on Wednesday.
The reinsertion of Brink should help boost the forward lines — after all, the losing streak started when he got hurt. Brink works well with Cates, and the duo has a natural, connected chemistry on the ice.
It should help a Flyers team that, as defenseman Travis Sanheim said, needs to get back to fundamentals. It is something Cates and Brink have showcased since last season. And coupled with Michkov, the line has brought offense. According to Natural Stat Trick, across the nine games the two Minnesotans played with the Russian winger, beginning Dec. 16 in Montreal, the Flyers scored five goals and allowed one with a 64.63% expected goal share.
Brink has 11 goals and 20 points in 41 games this season. The 24-year-old is one goal away from tying his career high set last season in 79 games and is shooting a career-best 15.5%.
“He’s definitely a guy that you can count on,” Tocchet said. “He’s a consistent player for us. You lose guys like that, and then your depth gets challenged. But that’s where guys have that opportunity to shine. … But having Bobby back, he does settle things down for us.”
Breakaways
Rodrigo Ābols has been replaced on Latvia’s Olympic roster. The Flyers forward was one of the first players named to the squad, but he suffered a lower-body injury on Saturday against the New York Rangers. He was placed on injured reserve on Sunday. No timeline was provided for his potential return. … Sam Ersson (6-8-4, .855 save percentage) will get the start against the Golden Knights, while Lane Pederson, who was called up Sunday, is in Vegas and is “a possibility” to play, Tocchet said.
At morning skate on Wednesday at KeyBank Center, things were looking up as defenseman Jamie Drysdale was set to make his return to the lineup.
But just a few short hours later, the injury bug resupplied its stinger and stung several times.
Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who was a full participant at morning skate and took power-play reps with the top unit, is now listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. He did not dress for warmups.
Then, goalie Dan Vladař suffered what looked to be a lower-body injury in the first period of the Flyers’ 5-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres before allowing two goals on five shots. Coach Rick Tocchet did not have an update when he spoke postgame, and according to a team source on Thursday, the team is still awaiting test results to determine the extent of the injury.
On the first Sabres goal, it appeared that Vladař moved awkwardly when he wasn’t sure where a missed shot by Josh Doan went. He was slow to get up and was able to reset, but Rasmus Dahlin beat him from the point with Jason Zucker setting a screen on a power play.
Here is the video of potential Dan Vladar injury. When he was pushing to his left after the initial save, it looked like he was laboring a little. Was slow to get up after the goal went in as well. #LetsGoFlyerspic.twitter.com/vrUH40Pfir
Losing Vladař for any amount of time would be a significant blow, especially as the Flyers jockey for playoff position in a tightly-contested Eastern Conference. The Czech goaltender has arguably been the team’s most valuable player this season, posting a 16-7-4 record and a .905 save percentage in 28 starts. Vladař is also set to play at the Olympics for his country after being named to the Czech Republic’s team last week.
According to a team source on Thursday afternoon, the Flyers may have avoided the worst-case scenario on Ristolainen and Vladař’s injuries. While the early findings are positive, they won’t know more for a few days.
So, with the Flyers needing a roster spot for a goalie replacement, on Thursday morning, forward Bobby Brink was placed on injured reserve. It is retroactive to Jan. 6, when Brink was injured on a blindsided hit by Anaheim Ducks forward Jansen Harkins just 2 minutes, 38 seconds into the first period.
Brink has practiced in Philly but was not spotted on the trip to Western New York. He can come off injured reserve at any time, as it is retroactive and has been a minimum of seven days since his injury and time missed.
The Flyers recalled goaltender Aleksei Kolosov from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Thursday.
Aleksei Kolosov was recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League to complete the Flyers’ goalie tandem with Sam Ersson in the interim. In 19 games with the Phantoms, Kolosov is 9-9-1 with a 2.54 goals-against average, .908 save percentage, and two shutouts.
On Dec. 31, he had a 31-save shutout against rival Hershey, and he has won three of his past four starts. The shutout came during a two-game stretch in which he went 2-0-0 with a 0.50 GAA and a .984 save percentage, and was named the AHL’s Player of the Week.
It’s a marked improvement from last season with the Phantoms, when Kolosov had an .884 save percentage in 12 games, and from his first experience in North America, when he posted .885 across two games in 2023-24. Kolosov also struggled mightily at the NHL level last season after making his NHL debut Oct. 27, 2024. His .867 save percentage across 17 games and 13 starts last year ranked dead last among the 71 goalies to make at least 10 starts.
“He is a different player, different personality,” assistant general manager Brent Flahr told The Inquirer in December. “He’s really trying to fit in. He’s very athletic, very competitive, and he’s giving our team a chance to win down there almost every night. He’s a talented kid, so he’s got a chance to be an NHL goalie now. He just skipped a step last year. Now he’s building it back up again here, and we’ll see where it goes.”
The Belarusian has also appeared in two games for the Flyers this season, when Ersson was placed on injured reserve in late October. On Nov. 1, he stopped all seven shots he faced against the Toronto Maple Leafs in relief of Vladař, before stopping 19 of 21 the next night in a 2-1 loss to the Calgary Flames.
The Flyers play at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night (7 p.m., ESPN), and Ersson will start. He played the final two periods on Wednesday, allowing two goals on eight shots. The Swede, who is sporting a disappointing .855 save percentage on the season, has allowed at least four goals in four of his last five starts, including seven on Saturday against Tampa Bay.
Breakaways
On the same day that Denver Barkey was named the Phantoms’ representative to the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic, the forward will return to the Flyers lineup. Barkey, who was a healthy scratch for the first time in his career on Wednesday, has one goal and three points across 11 games since being called up. He struggled in his last two games, both against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and had the puck stolen by Brayden Point ahead of Nikita Kucherov’s first goal on Saturday and Nick Paul’s goal later in the game. Nic Deslauriers will draw out of the lineup.
Between now and the Olympic break, the Flyers have 14 games in 26 days. It’s a bit of a gauntlet as they come across red-hot teams like the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Colorado Avalanche.
The stretch begins Saturday (7 p.m., NBCSP) with the first of two straight home meetings against the Tampa Bay Lightning, winners of eight straight.
And the Flyers will have to do it without three of their top players. Defenseman Jamie Drysdale was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury on Friday, and forwards Bobby Brink and Travis Konecny are day-to-day with upper-body injuries.
“I talked to Drysie and Brink; they felt better today. So, that’s a real good sign,” coach Rick Tocchet said on Saturday after the team’s morning skate, which Brink and Drysdale participated in wearing green noncontact jerseys.
“TK said he felt a little bit [better] yesterday, but not good enough to play.”
Konecny, who did not participate in the morning skate, was injured in Thursday’s overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs after scoring the Flyers’ lone goal.
Since Nov. 29, when he had two assists in the win against the New Jersey Devils, Konecny is tied for 20th in the NHL in points (21) with names like Mitch Marner, Kirill Kaprizov, Nick Suzuki, Sam Reinhart, and Sam Bennett. His nine goals in that timeframe are tied for 19th with several players, including Sidney Crosby, the Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov, and Trevor Zegras.
Konecny has been playing with Christian Dvorak and Zegras, who called his loss “terrible.”
“Yeah, it’s a big hole. He’s a big part of our team offensively, especially,” added Sean Couturier. “So it’s going to be next-man-up mentality. He’s not an easy guy to [replace], you don’t just fill in with one guy. But, I think collectively, we can all step up and take over.”
Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet will shuffle his lines and power-play units without three key regulars on Saturday.
With Konecny and Brink out of the lineup, Matvei Michkov has been moved to Konecny’s spot. According to Natural Stat Trick, Michkov, Dvorak, and Zegras have played 39 minutes, 15 seconds together this season, with the Flyers having 40 shot attempts for and 40 against and potting two goals while allowing one.
“When you have four or five guys out, you get the bingo balls going, right?” said Tocchet about reuniting Zegras and Michkov. “You’re trying to put chemistry and thought process. So, yeah, we’ll see how it works.”
As Couturier said, it is a next-man-up mentality, but the Flyers will assuredly also be looking for Owen Tippett to continue his charge.
Since Dec. 20, his four goals are tied atop the team’s leaderboard with Konecny and Carl Grundström. His 32 shots during that span rank No. 1 on the Flyers and are tied for the 13th-most in the NHL, but the problem has been his finishing. His 12.5 shooting percentage across those nine games ranks eighth on the team. (Tippet is scoring on an almost identical 12.6% of his shots for the season, also eighth among Flyers.)
Tippett has been flying of late, using his speed to create chances for himself and his linemates, Denver Barkey and Couturier. Does he feel pressure to produce without Konency in the lineup?
“I don’t want to put that pressure on myself. But I think I said the same thing when [Tyson Foerster] went out, he’s one of those guys that we have to kind of pick up a little bit where we can and contribute where we can,” he said.
“Obviously, I know I’m capable of doing it, but I think the moment you start putting pressure on yourself to fill that void and fill that gap, it can tend to kind of take away from your game. [Konecny is] a big loss in the room, we all know that, so we’re all going to have to kind of step up and chip in where we can.”
Breakaways
Sam Ersson (6-5-4, .868 save percentage) will start against the Lightning. He was in net for the Flyers’ 3-0 loss on Nov. 24 in Tampa Bay, Fla., allowing two goals on 17 shots. … Defenseman Adam Ginning, who was recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Friday, is expected to be a healthy scratch. … Forward Nic Deslauriers will slot back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the past eight games. … With the power play having plummeted — it is tied for second worst with the Washington Capitals (15.0%) — and guys who normally play on the man advantage out, Tocchet has two new units: Tippett, Michkov, Zegras, Dvorak, and Rasmsus Ristolainen are on one, and Noah Cates, Cam York, Barkey, Travis Sanheim, and Nikita Grebenkin are on the other. Couturier, despite being a net-front presence on Thursday and consistently screening the goalie — something Tocchet has preached this season — is not on a unit. “He’s played a lot of power play this year, and I think he’s just getting overused,” Tocchet said. “It doesn’t matter who, you’ve got to get in front of the net.”
Tuesday’s Flyers-Ducks game was always going to have extra emotion and intensity given the connections and bad blood between the teams after Cutter Gauthier demanded a trade from Philadelphia two years ago.
That bad blood quickly ratcheted up another level when two Flyers were injured by blindsided hits. Bobby Brink and Jamie Drysdale each left the game and did not return.
“Still getting evaluated, type of thing,” coach Rick Tocchet said on Wednesday. “I don’t want to say it’s a day-to-day. I don’t know yet. So it’s kind of one of those things. … I really don’t know. I talked to them today; they’re in a half-decent mood. Still being evaluated, so we’ll see.”
Brink was blindsided by a Jansen Harkins hit just 2 minutes, 38 seconds into the first period.
Off the rush, the Flyers winger received a pass from Nikita Grebenkin and was skating toward the slot when Harkins cut across the slot and clipped Brink up high. The Flyers winger did not return to the bench in the first period and was later ruled out with an upper-body injury.
Noah Cates went right after Harkins, and the two dropped their gloves. Both players received five-minute majors for fighting, and Cates was handed an extra two minutes for instigating. Harkins was not assessed a penalty for the initial hit.
According to Hockeyfights.com, it is Cates’ first pro hockey fight. The site says he logged one fight when he was with Omaha of the United States Hockey League in 2018, dropping the gloves with Paul Cotter, who now plays for the New Jersey Devils.
Injury struck for the Flyers again in the second period, as Drysdale went down after a cheap hit well away from the puck by Ducks forward Ross Johnston.
Johnston was skating into the zone and ran over an unsuspecting Drysdale, who was curling up top near the blue line. The puck was deep in the Ducks’ zone at the time. Johnston appeared to be pleading that the hit was incidental and just a collision between two players who didn’t see one another. On replay, it appeared that Johnson had enough to see and avoid Drysdale and that he even stuck out an arm and threw it into Drysdale. The two seemed to bang knee-to-knee, with Drysdale also absorbing a blow up high.
Garnet Hathaway steamrolled Owen Zellweger.
Ross Johnston retaliated with a cheap shot on Jamie Drysdale. The stretcher came out for Drysdale who refused to get on it then went down the tunnel with Tommy Alva. Johnston got a game misconduct for the hit. pic.twitter.com/abzrsLQqPn
Johnston was handed a five-minute major for interference and a game misconduct. The play by Johnston came after Garnet Hathaway drilled Olen Zellweger — cleanly — in the offensive zone. The Flyers failed to score on the five-minute power play.
Drysdale, who was acquired in the deal for Gauthier almost two years ago to the day, laid on the ice and did not move for a considerable amount of time. The stretcher did come out, and the doctors came out of the stands, but Drysdale sat up and skated off the ice with help.
He did not return and was officially ruled out at the start of the third period with an undisclosed injury.
There was no supplemental discipline handed out by the NHL on any of the hits.
