NHL Rumors: Flyers Defenseman Gaining Trade Interest

According to Darren Dreger, "some are wondering" if the Philadelphia Flyers are now open to trading Travis Sanheim because they re-signed Rasmus Ristolainen.

Some wondering if Risto extension opens the door to a Travis Sanheim trade either before the deadline or in the offseason. He would be pretty high on a few teams target lists. Left shot, $4.675 cap hit through next season. https://t.co/gBbTqqrQAt
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) March 10, 2022

Sanheim has a $4.675 million cap hit until the end of next season and will be eligible for unrestricted free agency. With the Flyers set to rebuild, the 25-year-old could be a player who they consider moving if it nets them a solid return. This is especially true if he is not open to the idea of signing a contract extension once he is permitted to this offseason.

It certainly would be a strange decision from the Flyers to choose Ristolainen over Sanheim, though. In 54 games this season, the latter has four goals, 16 assists. and a plus-2 rating. He has been their top defenseman all season, while Ristolainen has struggled. The best-case scenario at this point may be to just keep both.

This is an interesting development from Dreger and one that we should keep an eye on from here. However, this decision also feels like one that will be made during the offseason instead of the deadline.