Flyers Activate Rasmus Ristolainen Off IR

It appears that the Flyers will get a boost to their back end this afternoon against Anaheim.  Per the NHL’s media site, Philadelphia has activated Rasmus Ristolainen off injured reserve.  To make room on the active roster, winger Garrett Wilson has been assigned to AHL Lehigh Valley.

The 31-year-old has missed the last nine games due to a hand injury sustained three weeks ago.  He had one goal in those first three outings.  He’s officially listed as a game-time decision via Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia (Twitter link).

Ristolainen’s injury history is long and consistent.  Since joining the Flyers back in 2021, he has missed one-third of their regular season games, or 141 contests in total.  He has only reached the 70-game mark once in five years and his early injury this year will make it considerably tougher, though not impossible, to get there this season.

That’s not an ideal track record, especially since Ristolainen is eligible to reach unrestricted free agency for the first time this summer.  Signed at a $5.1MM cap charge, he’s impactful enough when healthy to command a raise while the Flyers have fielded trade inquiries for him for several years, though no offer has been good enough for them to pull the trigger on a swap.

As for Wilson, his removal from the roster shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.  He passed through waivers unclaimed on Friday, making him eligible to be sent down to the Phantoms.  The veteran has played in two games with the Flyers so far this season after having his AHL contract converted to a one-year, one-way deal late last month.