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900-Game NHL Veteran Ryan Johansen Loses Multi-Year Lawsuit Against Philadelphia Flyers

Originally posted on House of Hockey | By Tom Banks | Last updated Aug 12, 2025 6:50 PM ET

Ryan Johansen and the Flyers have been in a legal dispute since his termination from the team, but now, an arbitrator appears to be ruling in the team's favour.

Back in August of 2024, the Philadelphia Flyers terminated the contract of recently acquired Ryan Johansen, with the team citing a 'material breach' as the reason for placing him on unconditional waivers.

Since that point, the NHLPA filed a grievance on behalf of the veteran, and over the past 12 months the two parties have been locked in a legal stalemate over what is considered to be a very contentious situation.

Arbitrator rules in the favour of the Flyers

However, we now have our answer on what has happened, with TSN's Darren Dreger revealing that an arbitrator is reportedly set to rule in favour of the team over the player given what they know of the situation.

Despite playing in a game just days before being traded to Philadelphia in the Sean Walker deal, with the player then citing these injuries as reasons to get extensive surgery, with Flyers GM Danny Briere noting that all of them caught the team by surprise.

It's unclear at this point in time, but the expectation around the league is now that there will be no carry over salary cap implications for the team after an arbitrator decided to rule in their favour.

Ultimately, this was a situation that had the chance to turn very ugly, but at the end of the day the Flyers were seemingly in the right for doing what they did, and while Johansen's side clearly won't be happy with the outcome, it's done now as both parties look to move on ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.

This article first appeared on House of Hockey and was syndicated with permission.

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