Ryan Johansen was waived by the Philadelphia Flyers yesterday with the intention of terminating the final year of the deal for what Philadelphia is calling a "material breach" of contract.
This part is 100 percent certain: RyJo will clear waivers today.
What comes next is also certain: On behalf of Johansen, the NHLPA and agent Kurt Overhardt will formally file a complaint with the NHL to dispute Philly's apparent assertion that Johansen was exaggerating the extent of what he/Overhardt deem to be a career-threatening hip injury.
What comes next? It remains to be seen how this gets decided and whether the Flyers are able to take Johansen's $5M cap hit off their books for 2024-25 or are on the hook for it.
Bill Meltzer provides a synopsis and background on his latest Flyers blog. Here's what I can add.
Ordinarily, I never touch rumors having to do with a player's personal life, UNLESS it directly relates to his availability to play hockey. In Johansen's case, the player didn't do anything that would be controversial for 99.9 of the public including fellow players. Johansen got married on Aug. 17. There's Instagram video/photo footage of him dancing and whooping it up on a party bus hired for the celebration as well as pre-wedding photos of him lifting his new bride off her feet.
Does that matter? Ordinarily, no. But when a hockey player is claiming he has a severe hip issue that's too severe to participate in an upcoming training camp and which requires "extensive surgery" that's already been scheduled, it doesn't seem to jibe.
Also, the timing here raises alarm bells. Johansen's wedding was on Aug. 17. He was waived for contract termination purposes on Aug. 20.
Is it possible that it's just a big, unfortunate coincidence of timing? Yeah.
Is it possible that it was the final straw for the Flyers' camp after whatever else they gathered to show that RyJo's hip issue isn't so severe that he couldn't have gotten himself ready to at least try diligently to participate in the upcoming NHL training camp? Yup.
I liked RyJo in Columbus and thought he'd be a huge addition went he went to Nashville. In his 30s with Colorado, he seemed to be on the downside but he was in the lineup every game. However this all plays out, it's a tough situation.
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