After Rasmus Ristolainen suffers a ‘setback,’ the Flyers have some decisions to make on defense

“We thought it was getting better, and now I’m not sure where it’s at,” John Tortorella said.

Flyers defenseman Emil Andrae skates after the puck against New Jersey center Dawson Mercer during a preseason game on Sept. 30.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

Published Oct. 24, 2023, 4:39 p.m. ET

LAS VEGAS — When Marc Staal went down with an upper-body injury last week, it seemed as if fellow veteran defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen was nearing a return from injured reserve, where he’s been since before the season started.

A one-for-one swap seemed imminent, and the Flyers looked as if they would be able to continue rotating their young defensemen — Egor Zamula and Emil Andrae — in and out of the lineup while still maintaining some veteran presence on the back end.

But it’s now unclear when Ristolainen will be back. Flyers coach John Tortorella said Tuesday that the 28-year-old suffered a “setback” regarding his undisclosed injury. Ristolainen had been skating with the team as recently as last week, but he did not make the trip to Dallas and Las Vegas.

“We’re in the process of trying to figure it out, but it didn’t go in the right direction,” Tortorella said at T-Mobile Arena, where the Flyers were slated to play the Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights late Tuesday night. “We thought it was getting better, and now I’m not sure where it’s at.”

The absences of Ristolainen and Staal have left the Flyers with just six defensemen on this road trip. It also means that they have no choice but to play Zamula, 23, and Andrae, 21, nightly. In some ways, it’s what the Flyers wanted — their young prospects being thrown into the mix as the team continues its fact-finding mission to see what pieces it has for its rebuild.

But in the case of Andrae, a 2020 second-round pick, it’s unclear if this current path is the right one for his development. The Swedish prospect, while a bit undersized at 5-foot-9, has been regarded as an offensive-minded blueliner. However, he had yet to register a shot on net in three games entering Tuesday’s game against the undefeated Golden Knights. And at times he has looked a bit overmatched in the Flyers’ defensive zone.

“There’s some work that needs to be done,” Tortorella said. “That position with the decision-making has to be quicker than all positions. He makes mistakes, but he comes back and makes good plays, too.”

Andrae said it has been a big adjustment from playing professionally in Sweden, both with the size of the ice and with the speed, skill, and physicality of the NHL. His first game experiences have also come against some good teams. He debuted in a road game in Ottawa last weekend that the Flyers were dominated in, then came back after sitting a game to play against Edmonton, Dallas, and then Tuesday night in Vegas — three of the elite Western Conference teams.

“We’ve been playing against some really good teams these first three games for me,” Andrae said. “It’s been a fun experience. I feel OK, but I feel like I have more. Especially my puck movement. It’s a lot faster out there and you obviously don’t want to make mistakes, but I feel like I haven’t gotten to my game yet and hopefully I can get better and better.”

The dilemma facing the Flyers right now is: Will he get the chance?

Tortorella has maintained since training camp began in mid-September that the Flyers were going to be methodical about how they approach developing their young players. They want to put them in the best position to succeed. For Andrae, that position might not be on a third NHL pairing playing 12 minutes per game like he has over the last two games.

The Flyers surely won’t continue to keep just six defensemen on their roster when they get back from Vegas. But it’s possible there are more moves to be made than just bringing someone up from Lehigh Valley. Defensemen like Ronnie Attard, Adam Ginning, and Victor Mete were all on the NHL roster bubble near the end of training camp, and Tortorella has alluded to a sort of shuttle-like flow in sending players to and from Allentown.

“This is a situation I think sometimes you end up reassessing a little bit and see what is best for him,” Tortorella said of Andrae. “I really like him. I don’t think he’s afraid, but there’s a number of mistakes being made and we have to be cognizant of that, too, because we don’t want to hurt his development.”

Reading the tea leaves, it sounded like the Flyers were preparing to make a shuffle on the back end. But there was another chance Tuesday night for Andrae to make an impression.

“Emil is a guy that we have tremendous interest in, but as you go through it, you have to ask yourself what is the best thing right now for him as we keep on going here,” Tortorella said. “We’ll have those discussions after we play this game. We’ve had them all through the games, and we’ll see where it goes.”

Breakaways

The Flyers were slated to stay in Vegas overnight Tuesday before flying home Wednesday morning. They return to game action at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday when they host the Minnesota Wild (7:30 p.m., ESPN+). ... Tuesday night marked Sean Couturier’s 727th game in a Flyers uniform, tying him with Jake Voracek for 10th all-time in team history.