Ellis is in the 7th year of an eight-year, $50 million contract, but is not eligible to play due to a significant back injury, making this trade a salary dump for San Jose. Ellis's last NHL appearance was in the 2021-22 season.
San Jose has acquired the contract of Ryan Ellis, and a 2026 6th-round pick from Philadelphia for Carl Grundstrom and Artem Guryev. Ellis is in the 7th year of an eight-year, $50 million contract, but is not eligible to play due to a significant back injury, making this trade a salary dump for Philadelphia. Ellis's last NHL appearance was in the 2021-22 season.
The Flyers finally revealed the nature of Ellis' injury, which sidelined him for almost all of last season. A torn psoas muscle has caused significant hip and core issues for Ellis and could end his career prematurely. Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher told reporters that Ellis is out indefinitely and unlikely to play this season and added that Ellis might never play again.
Ellis previously missed nine games with a lower-body injury but returned to the Flyers lineup in Dallas on Saturday. Ellis registered one assist in 18:45 TOI but re-injured himself and is expected to miss at least a couple of weeks.
Ellis was expected to be back in the lineup on Wednesday, but apparently, his injury is lingering. Not being available for Wednesday's game in Edmonton, certainly makes him questionable for Thursday as well.
Ellis was missing from Friday's practice and is expected to miss Saturday's game vs. the Panthers. With Ellis out, look for Justin Braun to skate on the top pair with Ivan Provorov.
Ellis is heading into the third year of an eight-year contract that pays him $6.25M AAV per season. Ellis was 22nd among defensemen in points with 79 (15G / 64A) in 2019 and 2020 combined but his production fell off a bit in 2021. Still, the 30-year-old is a massive addition to the Flyers blueline and could find himself on the top pair with Ivan Provorov in 2022.
Ellis was knocked out of the Winter Classic after being elbowed in the face by Corey Perry early in the first period. The Predators are still calling it an "upper-body injury" but it sure looked like a concussion. The Predators used the roster spot to call-up, Alexandre Carrier, from Milwaukee (AHL).
