Let’s get it back to the Flyers:

This was inevitable. Back on August 20th, the Flyers placed Johansen on waivers for “the purpose of terminating his contract due to a material breach.” The union then filed the grievance in response about five weeks later.

Johansen’s agent, Kurt Overhardt, is the same guy who represents Quitter Gauthier. He wrote in a statement at the time that Johansen “has a severe hockey injury that requires extensive surgery, which has been scheduled.” Yet no one knows anything about this injury. Johansen, for some background, was traded on March 6th and played 10:58 of ice time in Colorado’s 5-0 win against the Chicago Blackhawks two days prior. The Avs did not play on the 5th. The rumor/theory going around the Flyer-verse is that Johansen is faking an injury to avoid having to play for the team, but obviously if this thing goes to arbitration, hockey Twitter accounts will not be entered as evidence.

If the Flyers win, they won’t have to eat Johansen’s $4 million cap hit, absorbed to get a 1st round draft pick from Colorado as part of the Sean Walker trade. Johansen came over with two years left on an eight-year deal he signed with Nashville, so the cap hit was split between the Flyers and Preds.