The Philadelphia Flyers are a lot of things. Normal certainly isn't one of them, not this week, and definitely not going back through 2024 so far.
The latest in the bizarre world of the orange and black: The organization placed center Ryan Johansen on unconditional waivers Tuesday with the intent of terminating his contract for what they cited as a "material breach" of it.
They had no further comment, but of course, that was hardly the end of it, as Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman reported soon after that Johansen was expected to file a grievance, followed by his agent Kurt Overhardt – who is a polarizing figure around here right now, to say the least – issuing this statement:
— KO Sports, Inc. (@KOSportsInc) August 20, 2024
Now look, Johansen was never really in the Flyers' plans to begin with after they got him in the deadline trade with the Avalanche for Sean Walker. It was almost entirely a cap absorption move to get a first-rounder out of Colorado, and after clearing waivers and getting assigned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL, Johansen probably would've been on the fast track for a buyout were it not for an injury that suddenly popped up and prevented him from skating.
In isolation, it would have been a largely inconsequential move that just turned a bit messy.
It's just that this doesn't exist in isolation. The Flyers now have a growing list of bizarre happenings and transactions going back to the beginning of the year, ranging anywhere from good to bad to just straight-up weird.
Be it fumblings on the Flyers' part, or just awful luck or circumstance piling up one after the other, or a mix of both, it's just been a strange hand for general manager Danny Brière and the rest of the front office to be playing with since he got the job, especially within the past few months.
Here's a running recap of it all…
• January 8, 2024 – Cutter Gauthier, the fifth overall pick from the 2022 draft, is suddenly traded to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a 2025 second-rounder. It caught nearly everyone off guard, but was an issue that had been quietly brewing in the background for months. Gauthier had a falling out with the front office around the time Brière took over as the interim and then permanent GM for Chuck Fletcher and cut off all contact with the Flyers. The Flyers tried to mend the relationship all the way up until this past World Junior Championship, but said they were never afforded the chance by Gauthier's camp, which forced the call to move on. Of note: Gauthier is represented by Overhardt.
• January 23, 2024 – Carter Hart is granted an indefinite leave of absence a couple of days after an abysmal performance in goal against Colorado. "Personal reasons" were cited in the statement for the leave, but many started connecting the dots to the 2018 Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal that had been lingering as a dark cloud over the hockey world for around two years by that point. Hart was charged with sexual assault in a re-opened investigation by the London, Ontario Police in the coming days, and the Flyers were down their No. 1 goaltender, though in a matter – to be absolutely clear on – where hockey had to be an extremely far second to. They did not issue Hart a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent to retain his rights after the season, and he isn't expected to be on an NHL rink anytime soon.
• March 29, 2024 – Goaltender Ivan Fedotov, after his playing career was derailed for nearly two years by a mandatory military enlistment in Russia, finally arrives over to North America and the Flyers late in the season. Prospect Alexei Kolosov comes in from Belarus as well. Fedotov is made the NHL backup to Sam Ersson while Kolosov is sent to Lehigh Valley to start getting situated for a full season with the Phantoms in 2024-25. Fedotov gets a two-year contract extension to stick around after the season ends and Kolosov was already on his entry-level contract. At the time, the Flyers' goaltending picture for 2024-25 was locked in.
• July 1, 2024 – Matvei Michkov signs his entry-level contract, officially making him set to arrive over to the Flyers from Russia two years earlier than expected. It's a major break in the team's trajectory now that their future star will be in their opening night lineup come October, and they rolled out the red carpet for him as soon as his plane landed.
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• August 19, 2024 – Kolosov goes home to Belarus for the summer, though amid rumors that he felt isolated and homesick while in Lehigh Valley and might not return because of it. Since his entry-level contract is active, the Flyers acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding him on a couple of occasions, but held to the expectation that he would be at training camp in September. Appearing on the latest Nasty Knuckles podcast, however, Brière said the Flyers have been struggling to get clear answers on Kolosov's status from his camp and that he just recently changed agents – since confirmed to be Dan Milstein, who represents a heavy number of Russian/Belarusian players.
Alexei Kolosov has changed agents
New episode of Nasty Knuckles drops tomorrow morning featuring @DannyBriere48 pic.twitter.com/vZtMg5zyLe— Nasty Knuckles (@NastyKnuckles) August 18, 2024
• August 20, 2014 – Johansen is put on unconditional waivers by the Flyers to have his contract terminated, which would clear out $4 million in cap space for both Philadelphia and the Nashville Predators as they were splitting retention on his total $8 million salary. Johansen played 63 games for Colorado right up until he was dealt to the Flyers, but after he cleared waivers and was assigned to the Phantoms, a hip injury was discovered that the Flyers weren't aware of prior to the trade with the Avalanche, per The Athletic's Kevin Kurz back in March. Johansen never skated for the Flyers or the Phantoms, and during his end-of-season press conference in April, Brière said he didn't expect to have Johansen back, alluding to the uncertainty of that injury and doubt over whether Johansen could even play hockey with it. A few months later and neither a buyout nor a trade proved the solution, but a straight-up contract termination from an alleged breach of it, now with Overhardt and the NHL Players Association getting involved, also per Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.
And the NHLPA, too: “The Philadelphia Flyers’ actions raise significant concerns. We are currently reviewing the matter.”
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) August 20, 2024
The books on the Flyers' part in the Gauthier and Hart situations are pretty much closed. Fedotov and Michkov are taken care of, but they still have to prove successes, and as for Kolosov and Johansen, who knows where that all ends up now.
But it's just never a dull moment when it comes to the Philadelphia Flyers, for better and worse.
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