Ryan Johansen was at the pinnacle of his NHL career after eight years with the Nashville Predators, but things haven’t been smooth sailing since he was traded in 2023.
The Predators parted ways with Johansen in June of last season, but in return Alex Galchenyuk will not play at all in the 2023-24 season and is currently without an NHL contract.
Additionally, the Predators retained 50% of Johansen’s remaining contract, or $4 million, which runs through 2025. The Philadelphia Flyers then acquired Johansen from the Colorado Avalanche in March of this year, but he has not played a single game for Philadelphia.
Are you aware of all of this? Which leads us to the current situation: It’s been reported by multiple sources, including Elliotte Friedman, that the Flyers are seeking to release Johansen from his contract due to “material violations.”
In other words, Johansen was injured, which is why the Flyers didn’t initially place him on the waiver list. Now the two sides are in a sticky situation, with Johansen’s agent arguing on his client’s behalf that the veteran has a serious hockey injury that requires surgery.
Ryan Johansen’s agent, Kurt Oberhart, released the following statement:
This is sad… We’ll see what happens — will they settle or not. Both the agent and the Flyers are trying really hard https://t.co/Nz8Zw8MqxW
— Elliot Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) August 20, 2024
Who knows how this will ultimately be resolved, but if the injury is hockey-related and his contract is unfairly terminated, it could be serious for Johansen, and now the NHLPA has become involved.
This is a really bad situation for Johansen. He just turned 32 and actually still has a few more years of good hockey to play. He only had 23 points in 63 games for the Avalanche last season, but he got lost in the deep roster and never enjoyed as much playing time as he did in his prime with Nashville.
Johansen is coming off just two seasons with the Predators, where he scored 63 points, including a career-high-tying 26 goals. Many Predators players exploded on the offensive end in 2021-22, but Johansen was right in the middle of a spectacular run that arguably no one saw coming.
Johansen was a central figure in the Predators organization during its heyday. He was a long-time fan favorite, one-third of the infamous “JoFA” line along with Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson, and was worshipped by many in Smashville.
Say what you want about Johansen not being a perfect top-line center, but he was a huge asset to the Nashville Predators overall and could easily be in the top 20 all-time, and even the top 10 as one of the most important players in franchise history.
The injury that Johansen is suffering from is reportedly a hip injury, a very delicate area that will be very difficult to return to the ice and get back in shape. Let’s hope that Johansen has an effective surgery and finds a way to join a new team, because it seems like it will no longer be possible for him to play for the Flyers.
It also bodes poorly with what happened to Ryan Ellis after he left the Predators, who also never recovered from an injury that cut his NHL career far too short.
Assuming Johansen can fully recover from the injury that has put both teams in this predicament, he should be able to find another team quickly. If he is placed on waivers, another team could easily acquire him, no joke.
In terms of how this affects the Predators now, the release could free up $4 million in dead cap hit, and of course, we all know the Predators are under salary cap pressure due to their emphasis on free agency.
You never want to see a player’s health or ability to play hockey affected, but indirectly, this could come as a relief to GM Barry Trotz with his salary cap issues. He was already forced to trade the less-than-satisfactory Cody Glass to free up salary cap space.
The Predators currently have roughly $3 million plus in cap space, according to PuckPedia, and with both RFAs Filip Tomasino and Juuso Parsinen still in need of new contracts, time is running out to figure out how to keep at least one, and preferably both, of those players.
If the additional $4 million in cap space granted under the Johansen ruling truly releases him from his contract, the Predators would suddenly be in a much better position to re-sign Tomasino and Parsinen.
