Ryan Ellis: The Man, The Myth, The Houdini?

Will Ryan Ellis go down in Philadelphia Flyers history as the top point producing defenseman of all time, on a point per game basis? (sarcasm) Ryan Ellis was acquired for a song and dance from the Nashville Predators back in July 2021, for arguably the NHL's worst high-end draft pick of the decade, Nolan Patrick, and once promising defenseman Philippe Myers. Of course, that trade meant the Flyers were inheriting the remaining 6 years of Ellis' contact, at $6.25 million a year, but Ellis definitely qualified as a legitimate player under Chuck Fletcher's «aggressive retool» vision.

Prior to the trade, Ryan Ellis had played his entire career in the shadows of a pair of elite NHL defenseman, Shea Weber and Roman Josi. Despite not playing a significant roll on the power play, during his tenure with Nashville, Ryan Ellis was just shy of averaging .5 points per game, or 40 points per year. Very respectable numbers for a number 2 to 4 defenseman.

In Ellis' first four contests for the Orange and Black, he posted 1 goal and 4 assists, two of those points on the power play, and had Flyers fans salivating at the thought of hoisting Lord Stanley's Cup. On pace for 100+ points and averaging 1.25ppg, though questionably sustainable, the Flyers had finally added a legitimate top paring, puck moving, shot blocking, aggressive, offensively gifted defenseman, to pair with Ivan Provorov.




That was it though there was no game six for Ellis and if you have been following his progression, for lack of a better term, you have to honestly wonder if he will ever play another game for the Flyers. There seems to be an overwhelming consensus and feeling, that Ellis has little interest in being a Philadelphia Flyer and the lack of progression and transparency regarding his injury(s), has only fueled the fire for fans. For the sake of the organization and betterment of the team, I hope that is not the case, as he has the potential to have a significant positive impact for the Flyers on the ice.