The Flyers’ brief connection with center Ryan Johansen is officially over.
On Tuesday, the team announced it has put the forward on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract due a “material breach.”
The team said it will have no further comment on the matter.
Johansen and a 2025 first-round draft pick were acquired in a trade with Colorado this past March 6 in exchange for defenseman Sean Walker.
There is one year/$8 million left on the 32-year-old Johansen’s contract.
According to the Westlaw website: “A material breach is one that substantially defeats the purpose of the contract, or relates to an essential element of the contract, and deprives the injured party of a benefit that he or she reasonably expected.”
Johansen is said to be hindered by a nagging hip injury.
At the time of the trade, general manager Daniel Briere made it fairly clear that Johansen did not fit into the Flyers’ future plans.
In fact, he was fairly open with his comments that he was trying to trade the Vancouver native. Apparently there were no takers.
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Johansen had the option of playing for the Flyers’ AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, this past spring but did not play there.
Johansen was a 2010 first-round pick (fourth overall) of the Columbus Blue Jackets. He played five years for Columbus and eight for Nashville before spending one year with the Avalanche.
In 905 NHL games, Johansen has registered 202 goals/578 points.
