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Elliotte Friedman speculates Philadelphia Flyers terminate Ryan Johansen's contract with a "behind-the-scenes wink from the NHL"
The Philadelphia Flyers have put forward Ryan Johansen under unconditional waivers, with the possible intention of terminating his contract due to "material breach." Johansen has been recovering from a ‘severe' hockey injury, and this makes his situation with the team highly uncertain.
While addressing Johnasen’s contract, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that he didn’t get to ask NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly about Johansen’s situation during the European Player Media Tour.
“Didn’t get a chance to ask Daly about Ryan Johansen, whose contract can be terminated by Philadelphia. He’s got $8M remaining. Agent Kurt Overhardt is preparing for a fight, and the Flyers wouldn’t pursue this without a behind-the-scenes wink from the NHL,” Friedman wrote.
It seems the situation will go to arbitration, although NHL teams usually attempt to settle matters out of court. Friedman mentioned that, while he doesn’t like to question injuries, Johansen's situation is unusual.
Despite playing 905 NHL games, Johansen went from not missing any games or practices with the Colorado Avalanche to being unable to play for the Flyers or their AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
“The timing is a little weird, which probably has something to do with video of Johansen dancing at his wedding. Again, I wouldn’t try to handicap this, except for saying the NHL and NHLPA hate risking precedent from an arbitrator, so a settlement is always the preference without an air-tight case,” he added.
Philadelphia Flyers GM thinks Ryan Johansen won't be back
The pessimism surrounding Ryan Johansen’s injury has been lingering for months now. Flyers general manager Danny Briere had previously stated that the reason behind the forward’s absence on the roster was solely due to injury.
“He claimed to be injured when we traded for him, so we had him see the doctors,” Briere told Philly Hockey Now March. “They found an injury, so now he’s going to be rehabbing. You can’t send down a player who’s injured.”
However, the real shock came after a later interview where Briere claimed that the player was done playing hockey.
“All I can tell you is I don’t expect him to be back,” he said. “I don’t know, exactly, the situation. We’re dealing on the medical side with him. The thing for him is getting him back to be able to play at this time. He doesn’t think he can play hockey.
"I wish I had a better answer for you. We need to get him better to figure out if there’s even a remote chance of him dressing for the organization.”
The particular briefing from the GM in April had set the tone of the situation between the player and the club. It now remains to be seen if the Flyers will terminate the forward’s current contract this offseason.
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