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Report: Maple Leafs Have Looked into Trading for Flyers Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen

Originally posted on FanNation Inside The Maple Leafs
By Nick Barden | Last updated 12/7/23

The Maple Leafs continue to scour the trade market for a defenseman.

On Wednesday, Toronto GM Brad Treliving revealed that John Klingberg would be shut down for the remainder of the season after he has hip surgery later this month. The 31-year-old has been dealing with a hip issue since Toronto played against the Florida Panthers in October.

"Ultimately this has to be done," Treliving said in his media availability on Wednesday afternoon.

With the Maple Leafs losing Klingberg, plus having Timothy Liljegren (ankle) and Mark Giordano (broken finger) out, Toronto has been reportedly searching for a defenseman.

It was said that the Maple Leafs were in on both Nikita Zadorov and Chris Tanev until the Vancouver Canucks swooped in and acquired the Russian-born defender. Now, reports are suggesting that Toronto has looked at Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen.

"I do think Toronto has taken a look at Philadelphia’s Rasmus Ristolainen, who has three seasons remaining on a five-year, $25.5-million contract," Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported in his 32 Thoughts article on Wednesday night.

"But, I don’t believe the Flyers are eager to give him away, and there’s no rush for them to do anything while their group is playing well. That’s not to say it couldn’t be something down the road, but when the team is competing hard, getting good results and generally doing what is being asked of them — why throw a stink bomb into your dressing room?"

Ristolainen has played five games so far this season with the Flyers. He began his season on Nov. 25 after dealing with an undisclosed injury at the start of the year. Through five games, the 29-year-old defenseman has a 59.56 xGF% at five-on-five, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.

After speaking to reporters on Wednesday afternoon, Treliving did the media rounds on the radio later in the day. He appeared on TSN's OverDrive and discussed William Nylander's contract, plus what's next for the defense.

"Our defense, and I'm not discouraging anybody in our group here, it was area we wanted to try to help ourselves, even prior to John's injury," Treliving told OverDrive on Wednesday evening.

"This, obviously, is an area we are focused on. I give a lot of credit to the guys that have come up in William [Lagesson] and [Simon Benoit]. I think they've played their a**es off. They're guys who we anticipated would be playing less, or less roles, but good on them. They've come up and they've played really well. But we got to try to help ourselves there...

"What's available, what's the cost of it that can make an impact on our team and that's the manager's job now, is to continue to work that process to see if we can help ourselves."