EXCLUSIVE: Flyers’ Briere Reveals Truth About Ryan Johansen

Since being acquired by the Philadelphia Flyers ahead of the NHL trade deadline on March 6, former Colorado Avalanche forward Ryan Johansen has not appeared in a game for the Flyers organization.

Johansen was placed on waivers that same day for the purpose of being assigned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL and officially cleared waivers on March 7.

The AHL transactions page shows that Johansen was registered as a Phantoms player on March 7, but has since resurfaced on the Flyers roster and has been listed as a scratch for recent games. So, what is actually going on with Johansen?

“He claimed to be injured when we traded for him, so we had him see the doctors,” Flyers general manager Danny Briere told Philly Hockey Now in a phone interview. “They found an injury, so now he’s going to be rehabbing. You can’t send down a player who’s injured, so he’s going to be doing rehab until… we don’t know when.

“That’s about all I can say at this time, or all that I have. So, he’s back on our roster doing rehab and trying to get better.”

The timing of Johansen’s injury was certainly strange, as he had played for the Avalanche as recently as March 4 – two days before being acquired by the Flyers. It is worth noting that in that March 4 game against the Chicago Blackhawks, Johansen took only 13 shifts, his second-lowest total of the season.

The only time he played fewer was on Feb. 13, when the 31-year-old took 11 shifts in 9:30 of ice time against the Washington Capitals.

Did the injury catch Briere and the Flyers by surprise when they executed the trade with Colorado?

“Yes, that’s fair to say.”

It’s unclear where things go from here for Johansen and the Flyers, though it is clear that a solution on the ice is not in the cards yet. A Columbus Blue Jackets player for five seasons, Johansen briefly played under current Flyers head coach John Tortorella for half a year before being traded to Nashville mid-season.

Briere is not certain if the two have talked since Johansen was traded to Philadelphia, but if they have, it wasn’t orchestrated by the front office.

“I don’t know. As far as I know, I haven’t heard of any communication between Ryan and John,” Briere explained. “I don’t know for sure; they could have been talking to each other. But as far as I know, no, there hasn’t been any discussion.”

With Johansen on the roster, the Flyers are currently carrying 15 forwards, six defensemen, and two goalies. This means that they do not have a spare body on defense. Since he is injured, Johansen could become a candidate to go on injured reserve to create a roster spot for the Flyers to either activate a defenseman, like Nick Seeler, or call up another defenseman in his stead.

After this season, Johansen has one year remaining on his contract at a $4 million cap hit, as Nashville is retaining 50% from their previous trade with Colorado. Injured players cannot be bought out.

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