Photo: The Athletic

The Philadelphia Flyers announced on Friday afternoon that they have acquired right-handed defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for the 14th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft on Friday night (8 PM ET, ESPN2), a second-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, and left-handed defenseman Robert Hagg. Both of the defensemen involved in the deal are 23-years-old.

Ristolainen recorded four goals, 18 points, a -18 rating, a 43.49% five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, a 43.71% five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and a 44.3% five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in 49 games last season. In 542 career NHL games, Ristolainen has posted 46 goals, 245 points, and a -163 rating.

Before the 2019-20 season, Ristolainen recorded at least 32 assists and 41 points, respectively, in four consecutive seasons. Though, he has finished with a plus-minus rating better than -15 just twice in his career, including a league-worst -41 in 2018-19.

Robert Hagg, acquired by BUF, is a sub-replacement depth defenceman. #LetsGoSabres pic.twitter.com/OCuXX4KbcQ

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 23, 2021

Ristolainen averaged 22:17 per game last season (leading all Sabres defensemen), including 2:16 on the penalty kill and 1:49 on the power play (both second).

Hagg tallied two goals, five points, a -3 rating, a 53.12% five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, a 50.06% five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and a 51.86% five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage while averaging 15:40 per game (including 1:41 while shorthanded) in 34 games last season. In 236 career NHL games, Hagg has recorded 13 goals, 47 points, and a +13 rating.

Hagg set career-highs in goals (five), assists (15), and points (20), games played (82) in 2018-19.

The Flyers acquired right-handed defenseman Ryan Ellis in a trade with the Nashville Predators on Saturday, where they parted with center Nolan Patrick and right-handed defenseman Philippe Myers.

With the trade, the Flyers find another top-four right-handed defenseman after the team finished the season ranked last in the NHL with a 3.52 goals-against per game average and 30th with a 73.1% penalty-killing rate.

Ristolainen, who carries a $5.4 million cap hit before being eligible to become an unrestricted free agent after this season, finished last season with a Sabres-high 193 hits, 68 blocked-shots (which also ranked first), 11 giveaways (fifth-worst), and 12 giveaways (third-worst).

The Flyers currently have $10,085,477 in cap space with Sanheim (restricted free agent), goaltender Carter Hart (RFA), and left-handed defenseman Sam Morin (unrestricted free agent) up for contract this offseason.

Something a lot of people aren’t aware of:

1. Risto’s minutes actually /did/ get cut in the past two seasons, from 25-26 minutes a night in ’15-’19 to 22-23 in the past two seasons.

2. It made his numbers even worse pic.twitter.com/lGEObZMV3R

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 23, 2021

By Harrison Brown