The 27-year-old defenseman is in the final season of a six-year, $32.4 million contract ($5.4 million AAV) he signed Oct. 11, 2016 with the Buffalo Sabres and could have become an unrestricted free agent after this season.
"It's good to get it done as early as possible," Ristolainen said. "I feel like I was pretty confident I wanted to stay, they wanted me to stay. So it's good to be in Philly.
"I love this city. I love the fan base; very, very passionate. And I love my teammates. I've really enjoyed my time here and I believe we can turn it around here real quick."
Ristolainen has scored 14 points (two goals, 11 assists) averaging 21:25 of ice time in 50 games this season. He leads the Flyers with 182 hits and is third with 92 blocked shots.
"He's a competitor," Philadelphia coach Mike Yeo said. "Night in and night out he's going to play hard in front of his own net. He's a guy that the other team, they might think twice before they park themselves in front of our goalies. That's important for our goalies to be able to see the puck, take away second chances. He's a guy that shows up and plays night after night. He's a very proud, committed player. He loves winning, he loves competing, and he's got ability to go along with that. Those are the kind of guys you want to have around here."
Philadelphia acquired Ristolainen in a trade with Buffalo on July 23, 2021 for defenseman Robert Hagg, a first-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft (
Isak Rosen
) and a second-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
Ristolainen said it was an easy decision to pass on becoming a free agent for the first time in his nine-season NHL career.
"Obviously I was thinking about all the options a little bit, but honestly it wasn't too hard now," he said. "I just felt like I liked it here. I don't need to go looking for something else for really no reason. So it was overall a pretty easy decision for me."
Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher said in January he was hoping to retain Ristolainen.
"When we traded for him, clearly I paid a big price, I recognize that," Fletcher said then. "It's difficult to get physical defensemen, never mind physical right-shot defensemen. ... Ristolainen can certainly be part of a six-man defense corps and bring an element that not a lot of people have. The goal when we traded for him was to keep [him], and obviously he's a pending UFA and he will control a lot of that discussion and we'll work with his representation to see what makes sense."
The Flyers (18-29-10) are last in the Metropolitan Division.
"I believe the pieces we have here and here for next year, it's a pretty good core," Ristolainen said. "Obviously some changes will happen and we'll see, but I I trust the guys I share that locker room with. ... But I believe it's going to be only this one season and that next season we will be a lot better team."
The NHL Trade Deadline is March 21.
"We are still trying to deal with some ... I don't want to say distractions, but there's some rumors and there's talk," Yeo said. "At least one of those pieces is done. But there are some other things we'll have to deal with. But the fact that he's going to be here for this term is outstanding. He's a guy that you love to coach. He's so low-maintenance. You don't have to ask this guy to play and you don't have to ask him to play hard. He plays with pride and passion every night. I'm happy that we got it done."
NHL.com independent correspondent Alain Poupart contributed to this report
