Former Predator Ryan Ellis May Have Played His Final NHL Game

The former Nashville defenseman's injury likely means he has played his last professional hockey game.

Nashville Predators 2009 first round draft pick Ryan Ellis may be hanging up his skates for good. The 32 year old defenseman, who played ten seasons in Nashville and was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in July of 2021, has likely played his final NHL game due to a torn psoas muscle in his back. 

Flyers President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones addressed Ellis's status Thursday with the media. 

Ellis has struggled with injury in his time with Philadelphia, only playing four games for the Flyers since 2021 and spending most of his tenure on long term IR. Jones explained that Ellis has "exhausted everything that he can in order to play". 

It would be tough ending to a career that helped the Nashville Predators to their most successful seasons in franchise history. In Nashville's Stanley Cup Finals season, Ellis led all defensemen in goals (16) and racked up 38 points in the regular season. He also contributed five goals and 18 points in that postseason run. Ellis battled injuries in the 2018 Presidents Trophy season but still recorded 32 points playing alongside Roman Josi. The duo of Ellis-Josi was considered one of the best defensive pairings in the league in 2018-2019 when Ellis returned for a full season. 

Predators fans aren't likely to forget (or forgive) what caused the interruption to Ellis's 2020-21 season. Shortly after the puck dropped at the Winter Classic against the Dallas Stars on New Years Day, Corey Perry elbowed Ellis in the head dropping him immediately to the ice. Ellis left the game and ended up on IR for a concussion. Perry was ejected from the game and suspended five games without pay. 

Ellis was traded to the Flyers in July 2021 in exchange for defenseman Philippe Myers and forward Nolan Patrick. Nashville immediately traded Patrick to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Cody Glass. Since being traded, Ellis has only been able to play 91 minutes as a Flyer due to injury while the Predators are still searching for that  reliable replacement for his former defensive partner, Josi. 

Ellis still has four years remaining on his contract with an AAV of $6,250,000.