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Flyers Move to Terminate Ryan Johansen's Contract: What's Known |
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Earlier today, the Flyers placed veteran center Ryan Johansen on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating the remainder of his contract due to a "material breach". In a statement, the organization said it "will have no further comment" at this time.
A material breach refers to a player engaging in a provable activity or behavior in violation of his his contract. Basically, it's the contractual equivalent of "termination for cause" in which an employee is fired for serious and legitimate reasons.
As fully expected, the NHL Players Association is stepping in on Johansen's behalf. They will demand to know a) what provable evidence the Flyers have to back up their contention that Johansen committed a material breach of contract. They will is demand that such evidence was obtained in a legitimate manner.
Johansen's agent, Kurt Overhardt, quickly released a statement following the news of his client's contract termination. Overhardt stated that Johansen "has a severe hockey injury that requires extensive surgery [and] which has been scheduled." Overhardt further insisted that his client has "worked in good faith with the club, it's medical staff, and authorized third-party physicians."
The Flyers acquired Johansen from the Colorado Avalanche on March 6, 2024, as part of the deal that sent defenseman Sean Walker to the Avalanche and brought a 2025 first-round pic to the Flyers. Taking on the rest Johansen's contract in its entirety (meaning no cap retention by the Avalanche) was a must-do demand from Colorado as a condition for sending the Flyers a first-round pick in the trade.
The Avalanche, by multiple accounts, were eager to unload the 32-year-old forward after his play dropped significantly over the past two seasons. The Flyers didn't want Johansen, either, but had enough cap space to take on what they needed to. The Flyers placed Johansen on waivers for purposes of assigning him to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Johansen, however, immediately claimed that he had a major injury while with Colorado (said to be a serious hip issue). Under the NHL/NHLPA collective bargaining agreement, a team cannot send an injured player to the minors. They are also prohibited from buying out the contract of an injured player during the offseason.
Johansen had not missed any games for Colorado prior to the trade to Philadelphia. In fact, he'd played one night earlier and had not missed any shifts. It is not believed -- although not confirmed -- that the medical information the Avalanche shared with the Flyers as part of the due diligence process of completing the trade gave any indication of a serious hip issue.
Shortly thereafter, Briere said the following, "He claimed to be injured when we traded for him, so we had him see the doctors. They found an injury, so now he's going to be rehabbing until... we don't know when."
The question here is one of the extent of the injury: Was it something career threatening? Was there a good-faith effort at rehab?
The suspicion in this case has not generally been aimed at the Avalanche, such as if they knowingly withheld medical information from the Flyers. Rather, there's been speculation that Johansen was either exaggerating or being untruthful about having a career-threatening hip issue.
For these reasons, Overhardt's contention specifically claims that Johansen cooperated fully with the Flyers organization, medical staff and independent doctors who neither work for the team nor are employed via the agent/client.
As part of the ensuing process, which follow an NHL protocol for hearing and adjudicating such disputes in compliance with the CBA, both the Flyers and the NHLPA (on behalf of Players' Association member Johansen) will present evidence. The Flyers must prove there was a "material breach" that justified contract termination. The other side would show evidence to back up Overhardt's claim that Johansen can prove he's medically unable to play.
The Flyers have had mixed dealings with Overhardt in the past. Some situations have gone fine. Others proved contentious.
In 2012, the Flyers believed they had a contract extension done with defenseman Matt Carle. At the last moment, Overhardt reputedly used the impending extension as leverage to get the Tampa Lightning to top the offer and sign Carle as an unrestricted agent. In more recent times, Overhardt became the agent for former Flyers prospect Cutter Gauthier. The Gauthier situation and rights trade to Anaheim is unrelated to Johansen.
General managers in general find some agents easier to deal with than others. If need be, regardless of past negotiations or disputes, clubs can work with just about any agent if it behooves the team and the agent's client. However, mutual trust levels and openness of communication lines vary as they would in any other sports or entertainment industry.
This past Saturday (Aug. 17) in Dublin, Ohio, Johansen got married to longtime girlfriend Abigail Gray. He learned of the impending contract termination a few days later.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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