After not playing since Oct. 3 due to injury, Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen returned to action on Saturday afternoon against Anaheim. However, the return was short-lived, as the blueliner was put back on the shelf due to an upper-body injury. It’s expected Ristolainen, who scored once this season, will be out for roughly two weeks.

Injury update: Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (upper-body) is expected to be out approximately two weeks.

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 26, 2026

“He got caught in a really awkward spot and re-aggreviated it, it’s a bad luck kind of injury,” Tocchet added during the post-practice presser on Monday.

It’s not clear when or how Ristolainen got hurt. He had one shot on goal and was pointless in 14:34 of ice time, spending portions of it on the third pairing with Hunter McDonald but also finding a bit of time with Travis Sanheim. Ristolainen’s last shift was with 7:34 to go in the third period, a shift that was 34 seconds. So, with the big Finnish defender out of the lineup for some time, it’s up to the Flyers to once again take the “next man up” mentality during this upcoming stretch of games and into the Western Canadian road trip next month.

As it stands now, Ristolainen — if out for two full weeks — would be returning to the lineup on either Nov. 9 against Vancouver on the road, or Nov. 11 when the Flyers could be in very tough against the high-flying Edmonton Oilers. Should the Flyers opt for a more cautious approach, then Ristolainen could be back in the lineup at the end of the road trip when they visit Columbus on Nov. 14 before returning home for a game against Edmonton the following night.

Ristolainen out, York back?

With Ristolainen out, and the status of Cam York still not quite crystal clear, it looks like the Flyers will keep Oliver Bonk in the lineup for the foreseeable future. And, given how well he’s looked alongside Sanheim, Bonk is most likely going to remain on the top pair for the next little stretch of games. During Monday’s practice, the pairings were as follows: Sanheim and Bonk, Nick Seeler and Jamie Drysdale, Hunter McDonald and Simon Benoit. A fourth pairing saw York with David Jiricek, but nobody knows for sure when York — who played last on Oct. 8 against Ottawa — is going to be good to go and return to action.

“I think when it gets to a certain level with injuries, it has to come from a player,” Tocchet said regarding York’s possible return sooner than later. “There’s only so much a doctor can say, and the pain tolerance. To me, it’s on the player, ‘Hey man, I’m ready to go!’ And that’s what you want to hear. Whether he says that when he’s ready to go. It’s hard because I can’t make the decision for him, if his hands or his legs don’t feel great, I can’t make a guy play. It’s up to him. At the end of the day it’s going to come from the player.”

If York returns to action, it’s most likely that he will be seeing himself paired again with Jamie Drysdale on the second pairing. That would then mean Seeler would probably be with Hunter McDonald. Or Simon Benoit. Or David Jiricek. It’s doubtful York would be working his way back into game shape with a slot that Ristolainen had against Anaheim to start the game. Simply put, the Flyers don’t quite have the luxury now of putting a traditional top four defensemen down into a third pairing to work the rust off. That is, unless the Flyers seem to be putting more trust in McDonald now given his play of late. McDonald was seen on Monday taking some lessons on fighting or clutching for a fight from Seeler and Tocchet at one point. McDonald fought A.J. Greer on Saturday and while he never got clocked, he was doing his best to protect himself and be on the defensive.

Bonk blooming

One player that Tocchet seems to be trusting more and more is Oliver Bonk. Bonk has been eating a bunch of minutes with Sanheim, and relatively holding his own as the team’s number two. However, Tocchet is also mindful of trying to protect Bonk from being exposed against the best the opposition has to offer.

“I think we’ve been playing better hockey the last three or four games, and I think that pair has done a nice job,” Tocchet said of Bonk and Sanheim. “So it’s hard to shelter his minutes in a sense. But we’re probably going to have to give a couple of minutes to some other guys. We need some guys to pick it up a little too to help us in that situation. As long as he’s doing his job out there, we’re going to keep throwing him out there.”