Senators Linked To Offseason Trade With Flyers

Saturday, May 16, 2026 ,
Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen reacts during 2026 game.

The Ottawa Senators were swept by the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round of the 2026 playoffs, and the same defensive deficiency that plagued them during the regular season showed up again in the postseason.

The blue line needs a big, physical right-shot defenseman who can play top-four minutes and survive the grind of playoff hockey.

Steve Staios tried to get one at the March trade deadline.

He targeted Rasmus Ristolainen of the Philadelphia Flyers and, per TSN insider Darren Dreger, got surprisingly close to making it happen.

"I know that Steve Staios was fairly far down the road in negotiations in acquiring Ristolainen at the trade deadline," Dreger said on his podcast. "But Philadelphia knew what they had. I don't think they believed, or were convinced that they were going to be as good as they were late in the season."

Briere asked for a first-round pick and a prospect.

Ottawa would not go that far.

The Flyers held him, went on a 18-7-1 run to close the regular season, made the playoffs for the first time in five years, beat the Penguins in six games, and then were swept by the Hurricanes.

Why Ristolainen Fits Ottawa's Need

Nick Jensen, who spent most of the season in a top-four role alongside Thomas Chabot, is an unrestricted free agent this July and is not expected to return per multiple reports.

His departure creates an obvious right-side hole that internal options Zack Ostapchuk, Artem Zub, and emerging prospect Cole Yakemchuk are not yet equipped to fill in a top-four playoff capacity.

Ristolainen, 31, is listed at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, and he averaged 21:23 of ice time against opposing top lines with the Flyers. 

He also plays the specific brand of physical, defense-first hockey that Staios has been trying to install in Ottawa since taking the GM job.

The analytical case for him has strengthened considerably since his Buffalo years, when he was thrown into heavy minutes on teams that were hopelessly undermanned.

In Philadelphia, under Rick Tocchet, playing alongside proper support, his underlying numbers have improved markedly.

Ristolainen missed the first 31 games of this season following triceps surgery in October, then missed another six games with a lower-body injury later in the year, and played only 44 of a possible 82 regular season games.

In the three seasons before this one, his seasonal totals were 31, 63, and 44 games played.

That injury pattern is the primary reason teams have been hesitant to pay premium prices for him despite his obvious on-ice value.

The good news, per Ristolainen himself, is that this is the first normal offseason he has had in four years.

"Yes, thank God," he told media at his end-of-year availability. "It's the first, somewhat normal, offseason in four years, so I'm kind of excited about that. Not needing to worry about rehabbing."

The Price Problem

The complication Staios faces is that the Flyers just made the second round in their first playoff appearance in half a decade.

A team that was unsure of its own direction at the deadline is now a team with organizational momentum who have a young core and legitimate reasons to believe Ristolainen is part of what got them there.

Briere wanted a first-round pick and a prospect in March.

He will want at minimum that again this summer, possibly more given the results of the past two months.

The Senators have the cap space to absorb Ristolainen's $5.1 million AAV, which has two more years remaining, and Staios has demonstrated a willingness to pay for exactly this profile as recently as the Ullmark trade in 2024.

Photo Credit: Luther Schlaifer-Imagn Images

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