The best early spots to land Rasmus Ristolainen before the 2025 NHL trade deadline

After a fantastic season in 2023-24 Philadelphia Flyers nearly making the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2020, John Tortorella’s club is fighting hard this time around. Mired in a four-game losing streak, the The Flyers are 17-20-5 through 42 gamesgood for last place in the Metropolitan Division and last place in the Eastern Conference.

Although Philiads remains just five points out of the wild-card spot, the most likely scenario is that it will be another campaign without postseason hockey in the City of Brotherly Love for the fifth straight time. President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones has already made it clear that the front office plans to sell on the eve of March 7 NHL Trade Deadline — and there’s no shortage of trading chips on the roster.

That includes veteran defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who has been popping up on trade boards around the league in recent weeks.

The Flyers will be sellers and Rasmus Ristolainen will likely be started

While the Flyers don’t necessarily need to trade the Finnish blueliner — he has two years left on his contract after this one — general manager Danny Briere is willing to listen. And after a rough start to his tenure in Philly, Ristolainen has improved his game over the past few years.

As Pierre LeBrun of the Athletics reported in December, Flyers management is supposedly open for trading bulky skater, but will only pull the trigger on a deal for “a good prospect or young player in return or a combination of prospect and option.” Ristolainen is not an unrestricted free agent until the summer of 2027; he currently has a $5.1 million cap hit, offering teams stability beyond this postseason.

The 30-year-old remains an ultra-physical defenseman with the ability to log significant minutes. That’s always in demand in trade deadline season, and there’s no shortage of potential suitors for Ristolainen in 2024-25. Here are three realistic options for the former 8th overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft.

Zvezda could use a right defender

After losing Chris Tanev in the offseason — a tough defenseman who signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs — Ristolainen could be an effective potential replacement to bolster the Dallas Stars’ defensive unit. He’s a straight shot who can play on the right side, and the roster already has three excellent D-men on the left side in Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell and Thomas Harley. The right side is much weaker, there are Ilya Lyubuskin, Matt Dumba and Nils Lundqvist.

There is a chance that Dumba is traded before the deadline in the salary dump, especially since the Stars are firmly tied to the salary cap. Even if he doesn’t, Ristolainen would certainly be a nice addition to the blue line, and if Philadelphia was willing to keep the money on the contract, that would be even more true.

“They haven’t filled that hole on the right side of their blue line yet. “The remaining time on Ristolainen’s contract fits within the Star’s winning streak, and the improvements in his game should be attractive given how few defensive stoppers are expected to be available on the market,” wrote The Athletic’s Chris Johnston of a possible Ristolainen. trade in Dallas. “Depth is essential for any team preparing for a long spring, and Dallas is all about trying to win the Stanley Cup.”

The Canucks are in dire need of defensive help

After a magical campaign that saw the Vancouver Canucks come within one win of the franchise’s first trip to the Western Conference Finals since 2011, the new season has presented a whole host of challenges for Rick Tocchet’s club. In addition to the rift between star forwards JT Miller and Elias Pettersson, along with Thatcher Demko missing most of the first half with an injury, it was a tough sled in British Columbia.

One of the most obvious problems the Canucks have is on the blue line. Filip Hronek’s injury was difficult to overcome, while the departure of Nikita Zadorov in the offseason didn’t help either. Superstar Quinn Hughes has done what he can to keep the unit efficient — and is preparing for another quality Norris Trophy campaign — but Vancouver needs help on defense.

In an effort to improve both defensive depth and toughness, Ristolainen would fit well on the second or third pairing. The Canucks front office will almost certainly make several moves ahead of March 7, and acquiring a defenseman should be one of them.

The Jets could use Ristolainen to improve the penalty kill

Despite just returning Dylan Samberg from injured reserve, the Jets are looking to make their blue line even better in their quest to get out of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2020-21. LeBrun reported that Winnipeg was considering Ristolainen as an option to improve their penalty kill.

“I would like the Jets to add the size on the right side of their defense that Ristolainen would bring,” a hockey insider wrote in December. “And after giving up a first-round pick last season for rental Sean Monahan only to see him leave on July 1, and considering how difficult it is for the Jets to attract free agents to Winnipeg, I like the idea of ​​getting a player according to the contract. So here it is, I’ve got the Cup-contending Jets going up against Ristolainen.”

Even if the Jets had to eat all of Ristolainen’s contract, it would be a smart move considering there is no risk of him leaving on July 1st. With the salary cap rising, a cap hit of $5.1 million over two and a half years doesn’t sound quite as bad — especially considering how much more consistent he’s been this season.

It seems more likely than not that the Flyers will move on from Ristolainen this season, due to roster issues and continued rebuilding, as well as the big defenseman’s improved play in 2024-25. Add in the importance of contenders having big, mobile blueshirts come playoff time, and you can see why Ristolainen is the ultimate trade chip.

It will be intriguing to see where the former World Junior Hockey Championship gold medalist ends up in March.

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