The latest on the Flyers' injured defender.
Three games into the young 2026-27 season, injuries to continue to pile up for the Philadelphia Flyers, as they are now down top-pair defender Rasmus Ristolainen in addition to Denver Barkey, Nikita Grebenkin, and Helge Grans.
On Saturday night, in a 3-2 overtime loss against the Carolina Hurricanes, Ristolainen blocked a shot late in the second period and went down in a heap, but carried on playing for the Flyers until he was able to change following an icing.
Ristolainen, 31, was able to return for the start of the third period, but lasted just one shift before going back down the tunnel and subsequently getting ruled out for the rest of the game. The Flyers did not disclose the nature of the Finn's injury, though he was struck in the arm/hand area by the shot.
The Flyers said in their announcement that Ristolainen would be re-evaluated on Sunday, so any further updates are not immediately forthcoming.
With the Flyers set to embark on a three-game road trip, a call-up may be necessary, though that has not been officially determined as of yet.
"Yeah, [Danny Briere] is talking to the trainers now, and we'll figure out what we're going to do," Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet said after the game. "Do we call up a guy? Stuff like that. We'll figure that [out] tonight or tomorrow."
In the absence of Ristolainen, the Flyers leaned heavily on Travis Sanheim, Cam York, and Jamie Drysdale, who each played at least 22 minutes against the Hurricanes. Sanheim finished the night at a whopping 27:05 of ice time.
Prospect defenseman David Jiricek made his season debut for the Flyers, playing 13:10 and featuring as the second power play unit quarterback. The Flyers may need to rely on him more in the immediate future if Ristolainen is to miss any time.
"I thought he grinded tonight. He had that big shot. There's some things there that he can build on," Tocchet said of Jiricek.
Ristolainen played 14:26 for the Flyers, including 1:03 shorthanded, before leaving with his injury. The veteran defenseman scored Philadelphia's first goal of the season with a deft net-front deflection against New Jersey on Thursday night.
The Flyers will be back in action on Monday night, when they face the Tampa Bay Lightning at 7 p.m. at Benchmark International Arena.
