The Philadelphia Flyers could have a bit of a roster crunch coming up when their pair of injured defensemen – Cam York and Rasmus Ristolainen – both return from their injuries. Both are on IR at the moment, and when they return, the Flyers will need to find a way to clear one or two defensemen off their active roster.
While the club has two defensemen who are waivers-exempt on its roster – Oliver Bonk and Hunter McDonald – The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz wrote that “it’s difficult to see the Flyers reassigning Bonk back to the AHL soon,” even when York and Ristolainen return.
Instead, Kurz floats the possibility that the Flyers could consider placing defenseman David Jiricek on waivers for the purpose of reassigning him to the club’s AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. According to Kurz, “the Flyers shouldn’t worry about waiving Jiricek,” as Kurz “can’t imagine he’ll get claimed with the Flyers already being his third organization.” Jiricek, 22, was the No. 6 overall pick at the 2022 NHL Draft, but has not lived up to his status as a former top prospect.
Originally selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets, Jiricek was dealt to the Minnesota Wild for a haul of draft picks in November 2024. The Wild flipped him to the Flyers near last season’s trade deadline in exchange for winger Bobby Brink.
Jiricek is averaging just 14:48 time on ice per game this season, and that’s including 2:07 per game on the power play. He was a healthy scratch for the Flyers’ most recent game.