It wasn’t too long ago that Ristolainen’s contract scared teams, but it’s funny what happens with a 20-minute-a-night, top-four defenseman finds his game more consistently, as he has this season. Suddenly, with the salary cap going up, a $5.1 million cap hit for the next two and a half years isn’t so bad at all. That’s why league sources say the Flyers have indeed received calls this season asking if they would be willing to move Ristolainen. The answer from the Flyers is yes — if there’s a certain price met. They would want a good prospect or young player in return or a combination of a prospect and a pick. And while trading for a player with term on his contract isn’t your typical deadline deal since most contenders prefer rentals, I can see it appealing to a few teams. For example, the Jets. I’d like to see the Jets add the kind of size on the right side of their defense that Ristolainen would bring. And after giving up a first-round pick last season for rental Sean Monahan only to see him leave July 1, and keeping in mind how difficult it is for the Jets to attract free agents to Winnipeg, I like the idea of acquiring a player under contract. So there you have it, I’ve got the Cup-contending Jets taking on Ristolainen.
10 comments
I will still be pleasantly surprised if Ristolainen gets moved at the deadline. I expect to hear “Teams were still hesitant to pay full price for a player with term left. It will be easier to move him in the summer or at next year’s deadline. Briere is in no rush.”
Acquire more assets, free up some cap, and free up a roster spot post-deadline to let Grans or McDonald get some minutes so that we’ll have a better idea of their capabilities during any roster battle next fall.
Would prefer a prospect over a pick at this point, but there’s no way he’s worth the quality of prospect that we need for this team.
Feel like we’d need to trade him AND picks for the kind of prospect that we can all get really excited about.
Its weird that immediately after the flyers gave up a 1st and 2nd for him, and signed to a smaller cap hit, he was deemed “untradeable.”
I’d like one of Salomonsson/Lambert/Chibrikov from Winnipeg if they are interested in Ristolainen.
A prospect and a pick? I don’t think that is getting us what we need. I’d rather give Risto and a pick in exchange for a good prospect or a better pick.
If they could get a 1st like they did for Walker and maybe retain salary would be nice.
If we could get Yager would be neat. Give them Risto (some salary retained), Frost and the COL or EDM 1st round pick and maybe a 2nd/3rd round pick.
Briere nailed the Sean Walker trade so I don’t have any doubts that he will make something work. But it’s going to be a bit more complex. Keep in mind, the reason Flyers ended up with a first in the Walker trade was because they took back a $4M negative asset. Risto has a higher cap hit and more term and Walker’s value was HIGH. But it’s a good thing quality RHD is a premium in this league. I guess it may depend on how much the Flyers are willing to retain.
They’d be willing to move him. But only under any circumstances
Between him and Laughton can we please stop setting unrealistic prices. Not moving Laughton was a disaster and now his stock couldn’t be lower. Risto was damn near untradeable a couple of years ago. You’re supposed to be rebuilding, start doing it.
I think he will be moved. I can’t imagine he is worth more than a second round pick and a current mid 20’s AHL prospect that has yet to break into the NHL. I’m trying to be unbiased here, if I was the flyers shopping for a D, how much would I pay for risto? Probably exactly this. Anything more is overpayment imo
Keeping Risto means having a competent d-man taking heavy minutes while the young kids get used to the game. That is the value they see for Risto. I’m betting he’s gone in the off-season, maybe next trade deadline, but not this one unless they get that high ask.