Source: Arbitrator rules in Flyers’ favor in grievance by forward Ryan Johansen
The players union filed a grievance against the Flyers, arguing that terminating Johansen's contract was unlawful as the forward did not report to the AHL due to an injury. An arbitrator disagreed.
It took just shy of a year, but the book is officially closed on Ryan Johansen’s short but eventful time with the Flyers.
On Tuesday, a source confirmed to The Inquirer that an arbitrator has ruled in favor of the Flyers, upholding the team’s move to terminate Johansen’s contract last August because of what they called “a material breach.” TSN was first to report the news.
The NHL Players’ Association filed a grievance against the Flyers, arguing that waiving Johansen for the purpose of terminating his contract was not in compliance with the collective-bargaining agreement, because the forward’s decision not to report to Lehigh Valley after being acquired in a trade from Colorado was due to a legitimate injury.
TSN previously reported that the two sides had a hearing on the matter in February.
The ruling means that the Flyers will not owe Johansen, 33, the $4 million they were scheduled to pay him last season and that he won’t take up a retention spot against the team’s salary cap. The Flyers acquired Johansen and a 2025 first-round pick for Sean Walker and a 2026 fifth-rounder before the 2024 NHL trade deadline.
The Flyers initially agreed to retain 50% of the final year and a half of Johansen’s contract as a trade sweetener, even though general manager Danny Brière said after the deal that Johansen, who was immediately placed on waivers, did not fit into the NHL team’s plans. The forward, citing a hip injury, refused to report to the Flyers’ American Hockey League affiliate following the trade.
But Brière and the Flyers said they were not aware of any injury to Johansen at the time of the trade and pointed to his having played 63 games for the Avalanche that season, including a game two days before the trade.
The Flyers placed Johansen on unconditional waivers again on Aug. 20 last year “for the purpose of terminating his contract due to a material breach.”
Johansen’s camp responded almost immediately to the Flyers’ waiver announcement last August.
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“Ryan Johansen has a severe hockey injury that requires extensive surgery which has been scheduled,” said Kurt Overhardt, Johansen’s agent. “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.”
But the Flyers maintained that they had grounds to terminate the contract and ultimately were proved right by the arbitrator. Brière has not commented much on the matter in recent months, other than to say the team was waiting on a final decision and was proceeding as if Johansen’s contract had been terminated.
The Johansen situation falls under the standard player contract portion of the NHL’s collective-bargaining agreement. That document 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.
Johansen, a 13-year NHL veteran who had not played in the AHL in more than a decade before the Flyers traded for him, will now become a free agent after never appearing for the Flyers organization. Johansen’s representatives had not yet responded to a request for comment on Tuesday.
While the resolution and the subsequent cap flexibility are positives from a Flyers perspective, the decision also should help preserve the Flyers’ public image around the league. If the arbitrator had ruled in Johansen’s favor, it could have negatively impacted the Flyers’ reputation among players and deterred potential free agents.
Staff writer Jackie Spiegel contributed to this article.