Flyers Defenseman Placed On IR

The Philadelphia Flyers have placed Rasmus Ristolainen on injured reserve due to an upper-body injury. 

Ristolainen was one of Philadelphia's big offseason acquisitions this past summer, but at this juncture of the campaign, things haven't gone as they hoped. Known for his ability to produce offense, he has just two goals and nine assists in 42 games this season. Furthermore, he has had struggles with his defensive game, too, as his minus-12 rating shows. 

The Flyers gave up a lot to acquire Ristolainen, but now his future with the team is already in doubt. The 27-year-old is pending unrestricted free agent and could be traded at the deadline. Keep in mind, Philadelphia sports a 15-24-9 record and is significantly out of the playoff picture. Thus, he is a rental candidate from them.

With all of this, it's bad news that Ristolainen now has less time to try to rebound and enhance his trade value. At a minimum, he must miss the next week, so here's to hoping he will be good to go after that time passes. The Flyers haven't provided an estimated recovery time, so if this turns out to be a long-term injury, we may not see the veteran moved by the deadline. 

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