It appears that we have, at least partially, our answer as to why the Philadelphia Flyers waived Ryan Johansen immediately after acquiring him in the Sean Walker trade with the Colorado Avalanche. Johansen, 31, has not appeared for the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms since being waived.
According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, on “32 Thoughts: The Podcast“, shared that “. . .Tortorella and Johansen, they have a complicated history, to say the least. And, then I heard there was some attempt at reconciliation, like, Johansen indicated that he would like to make it work, and he wanted to play in the NHL and play for the Flyers. I heard the Flyers were willing to have the conversation, and then came word that Johansen’s battling something – whether an injury or what the case was – so now that’s all on hold.”
Friedman went on to explain that Johansen is a likely buyout candidate for the Flyers this summer, but he cannot be bought out if he’s injured, as per NHL rule. Then he added this:
“We’ll see where this goes. Also, too, there’s some hard feelings there, just in general, because Johansen is represented by Kurt Overhardt, and Kurt Overhardt represents Cutter Gauthier. Because he’s in the NCAA [Overhardt] is Cutter Gauthier’s ‘family advisor’. There’s some hard feelings there and people wonder how much that plays into this. We’ll see where that goes with Ryan Johansen and Philly.”
Johansen has played in 63 games this season – all with the Avalanche – scoring 13 goals, 10 assists, and 23 points. The Nashville Predators effectively gave Johansen away for free in the summer, sending him to Colorado in exchange for the rights to UFA Alex Galchenyuk, who was not retained.
Johansen was fairly productive in his brief stint under John Tortorella, but the Flyers need to figure out the injury situation first.
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