Flyers Rejected Big Maple Leafs Trade for Rasmus Ristolainen

Instead, Ristolainen, 30, remained with the Flyers past the March 7 NHL trade deadline, playing in only three more games before suffering a season-ending triceps injury for the second year in a row during a matchup with the Ottawa Senators on March 11.

A league source told Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, “The Leafs offered the moon and couldn’t get him out of there.”

What "the moon" entails is, ultimately, unclear. It should be noted that, at the NHL trade deadline, the Maple Leafs traded top center prospect Fraser Minten, a 2026 first-round pick, and a 2025 fourth-round pick (incidentally acquired from the Flyers in the Scott Laughton trade) to the Boston Bruins in exchange for defenseman Brandon Carlo, whose $3.25 million cap hit after 15% salary retention was much less than Ristolainen's $5.1 million cap hit.

Because the Flyers already retained salary in the Laughton, Andrei Kuzmenko, and Kevin Hayes trades, they could not do so again for the Maple Leafs with Ristolainen; they used all their available slots.

We know the Flyers already pried a 2027 first-round pick and Nikita Grebenkin from the Maple Leafs, so it's plausible that the Minten package was on the table in some capacity. We know the Flyers want and need young centers.

Aside from Minten, the Maple Leafs have former first-rounders like Easton Cowan, a forward who plays with Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk on the OHL London Knights, and Ben Danford, a 2024-first round pick who could eventually become Ristolainen's replacement as a 6-foot-2, right-shot defenseman.

That's all speculation, of course, but the Flyers' decision to hold onto the Finnish rearguard is looking increasingly curious after a second consecutive season-ending injury, and he's only getting older.