Photo Credit: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports
Ryan Johansen, 31, was traded by the Colorado Avalanche to the Flyers, as part of a deal that sent Sean Walker to Colorado. The Vancouver native in Johansen stands at 6’3, and weighs 198 pounds. He was selected fourth overall in the 2010 NHL Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Johansen was quickly waived by the Flyers and Danny Briere, practically by the moment that Flyers acquired him. There was no good real reason given by the organization as to why he would never play for the Flyers this season, only Briere said he couldn’t until they had time to assess him more down with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Briere even emphatically said “No” when asked if he would play with the Flyers, although it is presumed that him and current Flyers Head Coach John Tortorella do not get along.
That is a thing of the past, as Johansen’s hockey career is now in doubt. He never once played for Lehigh, and the Flyers had we’re working on finding out details about his injury. It came out that he may have potentially injured his hip, but the Flyers did not know the nature of his injury, even today, “All I can tell you is I don’t expect him to be back. I don’t know exactly the situation. We are dealing on the medical side with him. The thing for him is getting him back to be able to play at this time,” said Flyers’ General Manager Danny Briere at his season ending presser.
Briere continued, “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.
As the season concludes, the Flyers still have no answers in terms of the nature of Johansen’s injury. This is not good news for him moving forward, with playing the sport he loves, either with the orange and black or not.
He played four-plus seasons in Columbus, then was traded to the Nashville Predators during the 2015-16 season. After the 2022-23 season, he went to the Avalanche.
In 905 NHL games, Johansen has scored 202 goals with registering 376 assists for 578 points. Johansen finished the 2023-24 season, while suiting up in 63 games for the Avalanche. He netted 13 goals and registered 10 assists for 23 points.
One thing to note Flyers fans, Johansen cannot be bought out, as he is injured. What the Flyers can do next season if he still hurt is place him on LTIR, so they can get instant cap relief. Either way, this is a shame for Johansen and the Flyers.
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