The Philadelphia Flyers have returned from the Olympic break winning two of their first three games back. Unfortunately for Philadelphia, they are still six points back of the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, and sit in sixth place in the Metropolitan Division.
With the trade deadline approaching Friday at 3 p.m. ET, there is curiosity as to what the Flyers would do. One potential path that has surfaced is trading away defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who is under contract beyond this season and is a right-shot defenseman, which is a position highly coveted at the deadline. Ristolainen has been linked to several teams, including the Dallas Stars, but there is one new scenario floating around.
During his most recent episode of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman speculated whether the Flyers trading Ristoalinen back to the Buffalo Sabres is a possibility.
Elliotte Friedman floats Sabres as potential landing spot for Flyers' Rasmus Ristolainen
"You know who I wonder about for Ristolainen, and it's kind of funny, but I mentioned on one of the pods recently that I think Buffalo is looking for some beef on the blue line. They were kind of like, would they ever take him back," said Friedman. "And Buffalo's right side of the D right now, their handedness is a bit mixed up. But obviously, they've got [Rasmus] Dahlin, they've got [Michael] Kesselring, who actually is a right-handed shot, and they've got [Owen] Power, who's been playing with [Bowen] Byram. So Sabres fans could let me know, do they think that makes sense?"
Now this would be interesting. The Sabres had a brutal start to the season, leading to the firing of their general manager, Kevyn Adams. But since then, Buffalo has been on a roll, going from 32 points at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings to moving up to second place in the Atlantic Division with 76 points through 60 games. This is a team in good position to buy at the trade deadline.
If there is one area that Buffalo needs improvement, it's on defense. The Sabres allowed 3.02 goals per game, which ranks 19th in the NHL. As Friedman says, they could stand to add some right-handedness to their defensive pairings. The majority of Buffalo's defenseman shoot left-handed, and it has led to some uneven pairings. Adding someone that the Sabres are familiar with and shoots right-handed should help the Sabres balance things out.
This season, Ristolainen has one goal, five assists, and a -4 plus/minus ratio through 22 games played.
The thing is, the Flyers aren't going to trade Ristolainen just to trade him. The Flyers are reportedly only going to move him if they get the right offer. So, that's up to Buffalo and General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen to come up with an offer. That's if they are truly interested in Ristolainen, as Friedman is just floating an idea.
The Flyers have an interesting few days ahead of them. We'll see if they do get an offer they can't refuse for a team interested in Ristolainen's services.