Flyers Coach Brad Shaw Confirms Season-Ending Injury for Top Defenseman

As the disappointing year for the Philadelphia Flyers continues to wind down toward another non-playoff appearance, interim head coach Brad Shaw (who recently replaced John Tortorella) released a discouraging team health update.

Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is not expected to be able to play for the remainder of the year; he hasn't played since sustaining an upper-body injury on March 11 against the Ottawa Senators.

Addressing media members today following practice, Shaw confirmed that he doesn't expect Ristolainen to make an appearance in any of Philadelphia's remaining 7 games.

This isn't Ristolainen's 1st injury that has caused him to miss time out of the lineup. In February 2024, he suffered what the team described as a "minor upper body injury"; he didn't play again for the rest of the year.

Ristolainen has 19 points (4G, 15A) in 63 games this year for the Flyers; he's ranked 3rd among all Flyers defensemen in average ice time (20:31). He's also in the 3rd year of a 5-year deal with an AAV (average annual value) of $5.1 million.

Ristolainen has split his career between the Buffalo Sabres (who took him with the 8th overall pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft) and the Flyers and has yet to make a single appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.