NHLPA files grievance against Flyers on behalf of veteran center

The NHLPA has filed a grievance on behalf of free agent center Ryan Johansen after the Flyers terminated his contract in August, the organization announced Thursday.

Johansen and the NHLPA had 60 days to file a grievance after Philadelphia terminated his contract on Aug. 21. They’ve now done so with plenty of time to spare until the deadline.

The Flyers, Johansen, and the NHLPA will now work on coming to a financial settlement. The most recent similar cases to Johansen’s — the Sharks’ termination of Evander Kane’s deal and the Blackhawks’ termination of Corey Perry’s deal — have been settled before reaching an arbitrator. In Chicago’s and Perry’s case, they didn’t even reach the point of filing a grievance before coming to a settlement.

However, this case seems far more likely than those recent examples to reach an arbitrator’s desk. Johansen has never played a game for the Flyers, who placed him on unconditional waivers and terminated his contract for cause with one year and $8M remaining on his deal, which was spread evenly between Philadelphia and Nashville at a $4M cap hit for each club.

They acquired him from the Avalanche in last season’s Sean Walker trade shortly before the deadline, but Johansen quickly reported a nagging hip injury and subsequently failed a physical. That happened after the Flyers had already placed him on standard waivers and assigned him to AHL Lehigh Valley, which was reversed by the league after the injury was reported.

It was one of the more peculiar situations in the league in recent memory. Johansen hadn’t missed a game in 2023-24 before the trade, recording 23 points in 63 games for Colorado. But after his deal was terminated, Johansen’s agent, Kurt Overhardt of KO Sports, said that he “has a severe hockey injury that requires extensive surgery, which has been scheduled.”

After the termination, the Flyers and Predators gained $4M in cap space. Depending on the terms of a potential settlement or arbitrator’s decision, they could be hit with a salary cap penalty.