The Philadelphia Flyers were reportedly actually close to trading Rasmus Ristolainen ahead of Friday's NHL trade deadline, but the deal never got over the line.
In his post-trade deadline press conference, Flyers GM Danny Briere insisted that other teams did simply not meet his asking price for Ristolainen, and he's right; it takes two to tango.
After several teams acquired right-shot defensemen, Ristolainen's suitors rapidly dwindled, and the Detroit Red Wings and Steve Yzerman eventually ended up as the last, most logical fit with minutes to go before the deadline hit.
Instead, the Red Wings, according to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, opted for St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk over Ristolainen.
"I heard Yzerman had a lot of balls in the air. A lot going on. Not that he'll ever tell us what they were. I think he had a lot of things in the air. The one thing I am pretty sure about is, at the end, he had a choice: Ristolainen, or Faulk. And he took Faulk," Friedman said in his trade deadline episode of "32 Thoughts".
"We knew he was trying on Myers, we talked about Ekman-Larsson. But I think it came down to Ristolainen and Faulk. He took Faulk."
As a consequence of their desperation, Yzerman and the Red Wings ultimately paid St. Louis a pretty penny for Faulk's services, parting ways with talented Russian forward prospect Dmitri Buchelnikov, a 2026 first-round pick, a 2026 third-round pick, and veteran defenseman Justin Holl.
Faulk is much different from Ristolainen, too, in that he's only 6-foot, older at age 33, and more expensive with his $6.5 million cap hit for two more seasons, including this one.
He's also a more adept puck mover, having reached the 30-point threshold in each of the last five seasons.
Ristolainen is more of a destroyer at this stage of his career, trading his Buffalo offense for a more consistent use of his 6-foor-4 frame and strength to kill plays and retain possession.
Holl, too, fit that bill, and while Ristolainen is very clearly the better defenseman, it is now obvious that Yzerman and the Red Wings preferred a player with Faulk's profile instead.
If Friedman is right, as he usually is, that has to sting a bit for the Flyers, who failed to move their top trade chip in a market that was white-hot for defensemen this year.
Should the Flyers want to revisit moving on from Ristolainen for picks and prospects, they'll have to wait until June.