The Flyers will be one of the more fun teams to cover for a while, since they’re in full rebuilding mode, but are further along than teams like the San Jose Sharks or the Chicago Blackhawks. This means they can make some leaps next season and perhaps find themselves in territory similar to what we saw from the Anaheim Ducks and Utah Hockey Club this past year.
Should the Flyers manage it, there will be renewed hope in Philadelphia, even if the team will still have quite a few question marks. But, there are some players who, because of a variety of factors, should have played their last game with the team this season.
Both players listed below are still under contract, but it might be time to either move them elsewhere or redefine their role with the organization.
Rasmus Ristolainen
Over the past two seasons, Rasmus Ristolainen has been one of the league’s more injury-prone players. Last season, he suited up for just 63 contests. While he was effective with 94 blocks and 97 hits, Ristolainen will be heading into his age-31 season for a hockey team that needs to get younger before it can get better.
That said, Ristolainen’s a bad fit for this Flyers rebuild. And while he’s not the oldest player on the roster, players like Sean Couturier and Garnet Hathaway bring more value. The only issue is that Ristolainen still has two seasons left on his deal with a cap hit of $5.1 million.
Given his history with injuries, is he someone the Flyers can get a generous deal for? The good news is that Ristolainen has no clauses attached to his contract, so that could make him somewhat easier to move. He also brings value defensively, so if another general manager doesn’t mind taking a risk they might be okay to make a deal with the Flyers.
Ivan Fedotov
I’m sure this is an unpopular opinion, given what Ivan Fedotov went through just to make the NHL. But let’s be frank: He’s not an NHL-caliber goaltender and he’ll already be heading into his age-29 season for what is a young hockey team.
So, he’s Player No. 2 on my list, but it doesn’t mean I don’t believe the Flyers should move him elsewhere. Instead, Fedotov makes for great organizational depth, even if the Flyers would pay a buried cap penalty should he serve in such a role.
While we can say, “Yes, he played for a bad hockey team, which is why his numbers were so spotty,” we only need to look at Samuel Ersson to debunk that. Ersson’s save percentage and GAA may not have been much better, with 0.883 and 3.14 compared to Fedotov’s 0.880 and 3.15, but the quality starts and ‘really bad starts’ jump out.
Ersson had 14 ‘really bad starts’ and a 0.422 quality starts percentage in 45 starts. Meanwhile, Fedotov finished the season with a 0.333 quality starts percentage and 10 ‘really bad starts’ in 24 starts. Nearly half of his starts, in other words. For that, I’d like to see Ersson team up with a younger netminder and create what could be a long-lasting tandem.