The Flyers placed Ryan Johansen on unconditional waivers today, with the purpose of terminating his contract after a “Material Breach”. Johansen was set to play out the final year of his 8-year $64 million deal, with a $4 million cap hit with the Flyers. However, he claimed he sustained an undisclosed injury, after he was waived and cleared waivers last season with the Flyers. The orange and black then tried sending him to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, but couldn’t because of his claim of injury. In retrospect, the Flyers explored trading options at the trade deadline with Johansen, to no avail.
Johansen was acquired from Colorado in the Sean Walker deal. He played in 63 games for Colorado before being traded to Philadelphia, and then mysteriously said he was injured.
The 32-year-old in Johansen was going to be placed on LTIR (Long-Term Injured Reserve) to start the season, more than likely. He was never going to play in a game with the orange and black, and this is what makes this case more puzzling. The Flyers have not given any indication as to what the “Material Breach” is.
This case is far from over, as Johansen will file a grievance about this matter, and this case is likely headed to arbitration. The arbitrator will then rule if the Flyers are in reason to terminate Johansen’s contract or not. If not, the Flyers can place him on LTIR to start the season, but if they are successful in this case then his contract will be off their books entirely. Whatever the case may be, there is never a dull moment being a Flyers fan.
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Come on man! We all know what the breach is. He played right up to the trade. Then when he was put on waivers to go ride the bus with the phantoms, he was mysteriously injured flying from Colorado. The doctors can’t find anything wrong with him, and he continues to be paid from two different teams.