Philadelphia Flyers’ Rasmus Ristolainen undergoes tricep surgery, expected to be out three months

A blueliner in the City of Brotherly Love had some repairs done to be 100% for next year.

On Thursday, Philadelphia Flyers general manager Danny Briere revealed defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen underwent surgery on a ruptured triceps tendon.

Ristolainen’s recovery time is expected to be three months, with the team saying he should be ready for the start of training camp next fall.

According to a release, the surgery was completed at TMI Sports Medicine Institute in Arlington, Texas. Dr. Keither Meister, the head orthopedic surgeon for the MLB’s Texas Rangers, performed it.

It has been a bumpy few years in Philadelphia for Ristolainen. Since he was traded to the Flyers by the Buffalo Sabres in 2021, injuries have plagued the Finnish blueliner. He missed the first 20 games of the 2023-24 season due to a lower-body injury, making his season debut on Nov. 25. In late January, he missed a game due to illness, and then was ruled out of the lineup after playing what would be his last game of the campaign on Feb. 10.

Ristolainen was eventually placed on injured reserve on Feb. 27, where he remained for the rest of the year.

While he was on the shelf, the Flyers fell from being a playoff contender to finishing 11th in the Eastern Conference, four points out of a Wild Card spot.

Ristolainen played just 31 games this season, posting just a goal and three assists. Since joining the Flyers, the 29-year-old has scored six goals and 40 points in 171 games. In his 713-game NHL career, Ristolainen has registered 52 goals and 233 assists, and has yet to play in the playoffs.

He is nearing the end of the second year of a five-year deal with the Flyers that he signed in March 2022 while Chuck Fletcher was in charge. Ristolainen has an AAV of $5.1 million through the end of the 2026-27 season.