Trading valuable Ristolainen was never in the Flyers’ cards

If you had lined up all the stuff that was written and said about an impending Rasmus Ristolainen trade, it probably would have extended all the way back to Finland.
But it didn’t happen.
Why?
At Friday’s post NHL trade deadline media session, Flyers general manager Daniel Briere wore a rueful smile when he sort of admonished the pundits who had the big defenseman headed elsewhere.
“You guys made a big story – I didn’t know I was trying to sell him,” Briere said at the Flyers Training Center. “You guys made it sound like we were dumping ‘Risto’ for next to nothing.
“Look, at the end of the day, Risto has a lot of value to our team. I wasn’t trying to dump Risto, trying to get rid of him. I think the media turned it into a little bit of a circus to be honest.”
Full disclosure, Ristolainen did practice with the team on Friday afternoon, so just about everyone knew early on no deal was forthcoming.
“I get it, it’s part of the job,” Briere said. “And it’s part of my job to deal with that. The reality is he’s an important part of our defense. He’s under contract next season ($5.1 million). So we weren’t looking to dump him.”
Plus, if the Flyers had sent Ristolainen packing, it might have sent the wrong kind of message to a team which still believes it has a shot at the playoffs.
“Where do you find 6-4, physical top four right-shot defensemen,” Briere said. “There’s not a lot. Yes, I did get a lot of calls and we took them seriously. We went through all the teams that were serious.
“But at the end of the day it just didn’t make sense value-wise. There was no sense to trade him for what he brings. I can promise you our guys prefer having him on our side than against them. He’s a guy who brings defensemen to the fight. He runs around and pisses off opponents. There’s a lot of value to that.”
It might have been different if there was a lot of young talent coming up through the ranks on defense. But aside from Oliver Bonk and newly acquired David Jiricek, no one is exactly breaking down any doors.
Briere wouldn’t get into specifics about what other teams were offering but said the price for Ristolainen wasn’t right for the Flyers’ current needs.

>Sending wrong message

With the Flyers on the perimeter of the battle for a playoff spot, Briere confirmed his team didn’t want to just unload a player of Ristolainen’s talent. That would sort of be like waving a white flag.
“The reality is we are where we are in the standings,” Briere said. “It’s not just the six points. It’s also having to leapfrog at least four or five teams. That’s probably the toughest part.
“We looked mostly for value. In the (Bobby) Brink trade for David (Jiricek), when we talked about the different teams with Risto, it was the same thing. It was about value. The plan never changed as far as looking to the future. But I expect us to keep playing to win every single game. We’re building winners, we don’t want to cut corners or tell them to not win. I think that is important for the culture you’re trying to build.”

>Glendening picked up on waivers

The Flyers picked up forward Luke Glendening off waivers from New Jersey on Friday. The 36-year-old forward has played parts of 13 seasons with Detroit, Dallas, Tampa Bay and New Jersey and registered 83 goals/170 points.

>Deslauriers to Carolina

Nicolas Deslauriers was traded to Carolina for a seventh-round draft pick in 2027. Basically, the veteran wing wanted to play for a contender near the end of his career and Briere accommodated him.
“He was a great protector of our guys for the last few years,” Briere said. “Nick wasn’t looking to leave, he loves it here. His family is staying in the area.”

>Foerster update

Tyson Foerster, out since December due to surgery for an upper-body injury, has been skating and remains a possibility if the Flyers make the playoffs.
“He’s pretty much on pace,” Briere said. “It would be nice if we could get in the playoff hunt. So far it’s going well. He’s trending in the right direction. I know he’s going to be knocking on my door soon to get back in the lineup.”

>Short shots

Denver Barkey and Adam Ginning were sent to Lehigh Valley but Barkey is expected to be back shortly. . .Briere said defenseman Nick Seeler is doubtful for Saturday at Pittsburgh but could be ready for Monday against the Rangers.