Latvia standout leaves Flyers for Swiss deal after ankle wrecked his NHL season

Rodrigo Abols is headed back across the Atlantic. The 30-year-old Latvian forward signed a three-year contract with SC Bern of Switzerland’s top league on Monday, effectively ending his NHL career after a 2025-26 season that got derailed by a fractured right ankle.

Abols played 42 games for the Flyers last season on a one-year, $800,000 deal. He put up three goals and 10 points before the injury shut him down. He spent the playoffs in the press box, watching Philadelphia knock out Pittsburgh in the first round and then fall to Carolina — the eventual Stanley Cup champ — in Round 2.

His last NHL game was January 17 against the Rangers. That was it.

SC Bern’s sporting director, Martin Plüss, described Abols as a strong, powerful two-way center with real leadership ability. That tracks with Abols’ resume. He captained Orebro HK in Sweden for two seasons between 2021 and 2023, and he helped Latvia win a bronze medal at the 2023 IIHF World Championships — a legit achievement for a smaller hockey nation.

For the Flyers, losing Abols doesn’t create a huge hole. He played 64 total games for them over parts of two seasons, finishing with five goals and 15 points. But it does clear a roster spot. Philadelphia currently has two unrestricted free agents — 35-year-old Garrett Wilson and 37-year-old Luke Glendening — and two restricted free agents in forward Trevor Zegras and defenseman Jamie Drysdale. Those RFAs are probably the bigger priority for GM Danny Briere this summer anyway.

A long road from Latvia to Switzerland

Abols was a seventh-round pick by Vancouver in 2016, No. 184 overall. That tells you he wasn’t supposed to become much. But he signed an entry-level deal with Florida as a free agent in 2019, bounced around the AHL and ECHL — Springfield and Greenville — then went back to Sweden in 2020 for five seasons. He returned to North America in 2024-25 and split time between the Flyers and their AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley before this past season.

He’s 30 now, coming off a broken ankle, and Switzerland pays well. It’s hard to see him getting another NHL shot after this. But for a guy who started as a late-round flyer and carved out a pro career across three continents, this isn’t a bad way to write the next chapter.