The Philadelphia Flyers are coming off a 5-4 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday. They led 2-0 and 3-2 before the Ducks rallied. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak. Philadelphia sits at 3-7-3 after opening the season with nine straight losses. Now Rasmus Ristolainen trade speculation is back. Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos has included the veteran defenseman on his latest trade board.

Kypreos released his second trade board of the season on Friday afternoon. The list leans heavily on defensemen headed for unrestricted free agency. Ristolainen is joined by Quinn Hughes, Vince Dunn and Erik Karlsson. Kypreos pointed to Ristolainen’s age, 31, and the fact that he’s in the final season of his contract. He also cited his size and his right shot. In his view, this is increasingly shaping up as the year Philadelphia moves him, especially if the Flyers keep chasing the playoff teams ahead of them.

Back From a Broken Hand

The timing lines up with his return. The Flyers activated Ristolainen from injured reserve on Saturday. He had missed the previous nine games. He had been out with a broken bone in his left hand since the third game of the season. To make room on the roster, Garrett Wilson was loaned to the AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley.

He didn’t jump straight back onto the top pair. In warmups, he skated on the third pair with Hunter McDonald, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia. Travis Sanheim and rookie Oliver Bonk stayed together on the top pair. Seeler and Drysdale made up the other pairing. Cam York is also hurt. Sanheim has been carrying a heavy load, averaging 25:44 a game.

Ristolainen logged 14:34 in his return, with 2:01 of that coming shorthanded; he picked up two points in the game.

Rasmus Ristolainen Trade Talk Dates Back to Last Season

This isn’t a new storyline. Ristolainen was one of the most popular names ahead of the 2026 trade deadline. Broad Street Hockey reported the Flyers’ asking price was in line with the Brandon Carlo deal, which brought the Boston Bruins a first-round pick, a middle-round pick, and Fraser Minten. The deadline passed with Ristolainen still in Philadelphia.

General manager Danny Briere explained the decision afterward, saying a big, physical, top-four right-shot defenseman is hard to find, and a deal didn’t make sense value-wise. He described Ristolainen as an important leader in the Flyers’ room.

The name kept surfacing after that. Now Bonk is playing top-pair minutes. Ristolainen is in a contract year. It’ll be interesting to see whether Briere’s answer changes if the Flyers are still chasing the pack closer to the deadline.