The NHL trade deadline has officially passed, and the Philadelphia Flyers are done for the day. While the Flyers did make a handful of moves, the most notable was the one they did not make. Rasmus Ristolainen is staying put, as GM Danny Briere stayed firm on his price for the defenseman.

With another year left under contract, the Flyers did not see Ristolainen as someone that they had to trade now.

The price tag on Ristolainen was not cheap, with a first-round pick and a prospect as the rough estimate of what they were looking for. That price was not met, and Ristolainen will remain with the Flyers for at least the rest of the season, if not the remainder of his contract.

Ristolainen has had an excellent season since returning from injury, which generated plenty of interest in the player prior to the deadline. He will continue on in his role with the Flyers as they continue their outside push to make the postseason.

Whether the Flyers’ price tag was too high or if the injury history made potential suitors wary is unclear. The Red Wings, Sabres, Ducks, and Oilers all went elsewhere to fill their need for a right-shot defenseman. Boston is the only team that was linked to Ristolainen that did not end up landing a defenseman.

With Ristolainen staying put, the Flyers’ deadline was headlined by the Bobby Brink trade.

Read More: BREAKING: Flyers Trade Bobby Brink to Wild for Young Defenseman

Briere on keeping Ristolainen

“At the end of the day, Risto has a lot of value to our team. I wasnt trying to dump Risto, I wasn’t trying to get rid of him,” said Flyers GM Danny Briere. “Risto is an important part of our defense. He’s still under contract for next season, so we werent looking to dump him. Where do you find 6’4″, physical, right-shot defensemen? There’s not a lot.”

Following Friday’s trade deadline, Briere made it clear that he was not actively shopping his Olympic defenseman. Ristolainen did not go anywhere, but that was not because of a lack of interest.

“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 did not make sense value-wise,” said Briere.

The Flyers very clearly had their price set in stone for Ristolainen. They value the player and require a specific asking price to make it worthwhile. No team was willing to meet said price.

Beyond his great play as of late, Briere mentioned Ristolainen’s leadership as another reason for keeping him around.

“Risto is an important leader in our room. I can promise you that our guys prefer having him on their side rather than playing against them.”

While the Flyers could have gotten a haul for the Finnish defenseman, they clearly value having him around another season more.

The Flyers have a new log jam

What makes this a head-scratcher is not necessarily the decision to keep him. Briere’s reasoning makes a ton of sense. What makes the choice a head scratcher is how it makes the Brink trade look.

The Flyers traded Bobby Brink, a reliable player who felt like a safe bet for a 40-point season, for David Jiricek, an RHD whose development has been stalled by a lack of NHL playing time.

Trading for Jiricek, in theory, was a great move as a potential Ristolainen replacement. A young project defenseman with size similar to Ristolainen could have filled the void. It will take some time, but we know he is a great AHL defenseman. Jiricek needs NHL playing time to take that next step.

Now, the Flyers are crowded on the right side within the organization with Ristolainen, Jiricek, Jamie Drysdale, and Oliver Bonk. All of these players could be on the roster at the start of next season. You can only play three on the right side.

When asked about this, Briere said, “When they’re ready, we’ll make room for them.” He even used the Brink trade as an example, with some of the younger wingers, like Alex Bump, close to making that next step. By trading Brink, there is now room for Bump to come up.

Still, that makes you wonder how they’ll make room for Bonk and Jiricek when they are ready, other than moving on from Ristolainen. I don’t think Ristolainen’s value will ever be higher than it was at the deadline. In my opinion, the Flyers should have capitalized on his post-Olympic value at the trade deadline.

What do you think about keeping Ristolainen?

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