Flyer’s Rasmus Ristolainen to make season debut against Canadiens

Ristolainen has been out of the lineup since late March of the 2024-25 season, as he had undergone surgery on his right tricep in late April and was out for the final 16 games of that season, along with the first 31 of this season. He was originally expected to miss six months after undergoing the surgery, but that timeline was extended by a month at the start of training camp, and then eventually another month was added before his eventual return.

This injury is the same one that caused Ristolainen to miss the final 29 games of the 2023-24 regular season as well. There may be some long-term concerns regarding the injury, but ideally the surgery will have fully repaired it this time around and avoid any other problems with it.

Ristolainen had four goals and 15 assists for 19 points in 63 games in 2024-25.

Ristolainen will be eased into the lineup and played on the bottom pair alongside Nick Seeler. The duo played together for 164:31 last season, with the goals held even at 7-7 and a 44.73% 5v5 expected goal share in that time. Ristolainen is also expected to play on the second penalty kill unit with Cam York.

As a result of Ristolainen entering the lineup, Noah Juulsen is expected to be a healthy scratch on Tuesday.

At this point in time, no announcement has been made about a corresponding transaction to make room for Ristolainen on the roster. Nicolas Deslauriers, Ty Murchison and Egor Zamula were the Flyers’ healthy scratches for Sunday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, so it’s likely that one of them gets sent to the AHL, likely Murchison.

The Flyers currently sit in fourth in the Metropolitan Division with a 16-9-6 record, good enough for the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. They will hope that Ristolainen’s return helps them snap a three-game losing streak when they visit the Canadiens on Tuesday at 7 p.m. EST.