Flyers move to terminate forward Ryan Johansen’s contract because of ‘material breach’

The Ryan Johansen era in Philadelphia may be over without him ever playing a game for the Flyers.

On Tuesday, the Flyers announced they have placed Johansen “on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract due to a material breach.” The Flyers said they would not be commenting further.

Johansen was acquired by the Flyers in March, in addition to a first-round pick, from the Colorado Avalanche in the Sean Walker trade. The 32-year-old forward’s contract was dumped by the Avs and he was unlikely to be part of the Flyers’ long-term plans on the ice. The Flyers were set to absorb half of Johansen’s $8 million salary-cap hit this season.

The “material breach” language will be the major talking point as the Flyers believe they have grounds for terminating Johansen’s contract and ridding themselves of the $4 million cap hit.

The standard player contract portion of the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement contains the following language in the section labeled “No Liability for Compensation”:

The Club may also terminate this SPC upon written notice to the Player (but only after obtaining Waivers from all other Clubs) if the Player shall at any time:

(a) fail, refuse, or neglect to obey the Club’s rules governing training and conduct of Players, if such failure, refusal or neglect should constitute a material breach of this SPC. 319 EXHIBIT 1

(b) fail, refuse or neglect to render his services hereunder or in any other manner materially breach this SPC. In the event of termination under Paragraph 14(a) or (b) the Player shall only be entitled to compensation due to him to the earlier of the date such notice is personally delivered to him or the date such notice is e-mailed to him.

The news regarding Johansen is not a complete surprise as Flyers general manager Danny Brière has mentioned a potential injury for Johansen on a couple of occasions, including at his end-of-season media availability.

“Ryan Johansen’s case, all I can tell you is I don’t expect him to be back,” Brière said on April 19. “I don’t know exactly the situation. We’re dealing on the medical side with him. I think the No. 1 thing for him is to get him back to being able to play at this time. He doesn’t think he can play hockey. … But we need to get him better to figure out if there’s even a remote chance of him dressing for the organization at whatever level.”

Following the trade in March, The Athletic reported that Johansen told the Flyers he had a hip injury and that he was later examined by the medical staff of the Phantoms. Johansen, who was playing regularly for the Avs before the trade to the tune of 13 goals and 23 points in 63 games, did not appear in a game for either the Flyers or Lehigh Valley after the deal was completed.

There was also some thought that the Flyers could place Johansen on long-term injured reserve this year given that he did not play for the club last season, citing his hip. While that would have provided the Flyer some cap flexibility, Johansen’s contract would have remained on their books.

Johansen’s agent Kurt Overhardt and his agency KO Sports released a statement Tuesday on X in defense of their client:

Ryan Johansen has a severe hockey injury that requires extensive surgery which has been scheduled. Since being traded to the Philadelphia Flyers, Ryan has worked in good faith with the Club, its medical staff, and authorized third-party physicians.

The Flyers’ attempt to terminate Ryan’s contract is disappointing.

We have been in contact with the NHLPA and will defend Ryan and protect his rights.