The Philadelphia Flyers blue line is still incomplete to start the season and it looks like it will remain that way for quite some time.
According to The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz, both defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen and Oliver Bonk are approximately five to six weeks away from being back in game action. Kurz also adds that that is the timeline as long as there are no setbacks to either blueliner’s recovery.
Per a team source, both Rasmus Ristolainen (triceps surgery) and Oliver Bonk (upper body) are about 5-6 weeks away from playing — as long as there are no setbacks. Bonk, of course, would likely begin with the Phantoms.
— Kevin Kurz (@KKurzNHL) October 23, 2025
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Ristolainen has not played for the Flyers since he suffered a season-ending triceps rupture in March of last season. He subsequently underwent an operation to repair said injury but has been slowly making his way back to full health — emphasis on slowly. Back in the middle of September before Flyers training camp, general manager Danny Briere told the media that the 30-year-old defenseman is expected to re-join the team within the first six to eight weeks of the season.
That timeline is largely staying in-tact. The eighth week of this season is the week of November 24 and well, since we are just a couple weeks into the NHL season and we’re halfway decent and doing some elementary school math, that is five weeks from now. Kurz’s report of five to six weeks until we see Ristolainen back in the Orange and Black is basically exactly what Briere told us already.
While it would be fantastic to see Ristolainen truly solidify a Flyers blue line that has had to lean on the top two pairings to do almost everything, the more interesting information is just how long prospect Oliver Bonk is expected to still be out for.
Oliver Bonk’s delayed AHL rookie season is unfortunate
This was going to be a massive season for Bonk. The 20-year-old defenseman just wrapped up his junior career by winning the Memorial Cup with the London Knights on a team that many will claim as one of the best CHL teams of this decade. He was heading down to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms to start his professional career and possibly give some fans enough hope that there’s another very talented young defenseman coming to supplement this blue line further.
But that’s all put on hold. Bonk suffered an upper-body injury early in rookie camp over a month ago and has essentially disappeared since. He missed all of training camp despite being listed just day-to-day, wasn’t able to start the AHL season, and it is only just now that we’re first hearing just how long he could be out for.
To potentially start a crucial campaign sometime in December, and only have a few months to really get your rookie AHL season under your belt, is not the right footing you want. Right now, down in the AHL, it looks like Helge Grans is getting top-pairing minutes next to Emil Andrae, and the rest of the blue line is made up of defensemen such as Dennis Gilbert, Hunter McDonald, and Ty Murchison, as Ethan Samson is also dealing with an injury. Bonk would have waltzed down to Allentown and taken up prime real estate on the blue line, easily claiming that he is the defender with the highest ceiling and one of the key rookies on that team.
And it is unfortunate. The Phantoms are a very good time right now. Despite a 3-2-0-0 record, Lehigh Valley is packed full of young and exciting talent like Alex Bump, Devin Kaplan, Karsen Dorwart, Alexis Gendron, and of course Bonk’s London teammate Denver Barkey. And that’s just the young players and not including veteran scorers like Carl Grundstrom and Anthony Richard in the lineup. It’s a team that is certainly worth paying attention to and Bonk could have been a part of that to start his year.
Now, the 20-year-old from Ottawa will have to slowly make his way back and join a team and league full of players really hitting their stride and at the peak of game fitness. It will be interesting to watch how it unfolds, but again, unfortunate that we’re going to have to wait at least five more weeks for that to happen.