Arbitrator rules in Flyers favor in Ryan Johansen grievance

It’s taken close to a year, but the lengthy ordeal of the grievance filed by Ryan Johansen against the Flyers alleging wrongful termination of his contract looks to be resolved.

According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the arbitrator on the case has ruled in the Flyers’ favor, and the issue has been put to rest.

Now, if the details are feeling a little foggy to you, we certainly don’t blame you, so here’s a quick recap of how we got to this point:

The Flyers acquired Johansen from the Avalanche on March 6, 2024 in exchange for Sean Walker and a fifth-round pick, and his contract was thrown into this deal, effectively, to ensure that the Flyers would also receive back a first-round pick in the deal as a thanks for taking on his cap hit. But with no intention to keep Johansen in their post-deadline mix on the NHL roster, he was sent through waivers, and after clearing the following day, he was assigned to the Phantoms. But Johansen never suited up for the Phantoms, and the word was he was dealing with a hip injury which would keep him out of commission for the rest of the season.

On August 20, then, it was announced that the Flyers would be placing Johansen on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract, citing a “material breach,” while his agent Kurt Overhardt responded later in the day that Johansen had suffered a “severe hockey injury” for which he would require surgery, and that they intended to file a grievance for wrongful termination. As far as what that breach looked like, we still don’t have the details, but our in-house council looked into the contract and broke down some possibilities soon after the termination was announced.

That grievance, which ultimately made its way to an independent arbitrator, has taken them through a lengthy investigation and evaluation process, and the waiting game has stretched on much longer than many might have hoped or anticipated. But now, all in all, it means that the Flyers were right in finding their contract to be breached, it’s settled, and a dark cloud is at last no longer looming overhead, and even more importantly, one would assume, the Flyers are free of any lingering cap implications from Johansen’s contract sitting in the void. They’re free and clear, and ready to move on to a new season.