Yeah, both parties have at this point pretty much abandoned any of the niceties often observed in these sorts of team & player interactions.
Flyers had nothing left to lose. They could not trade him at the deadline, no matter the retention. Then, after the injury, they could not send him to the AHL and get cap relief in 2024, only LTIR relief. And then they could not buy out the remainder of his contract for 2025, due to the injury. At this point, anything less might be better, so why not. All this for a player they had just traded for, who had played in all of his former NHL team's games up to that point, whom they (by all reports) had no intention of rostering at the NHL level...no surprises, just their approach.
As for RyJo...he and his agent (and founder of an agency) have decided this path gets them the most bang for their buck. Not wanting to play in the AHL? Makes perfect sense, as do his desires for proper injury management, and retaining his future NHL playability. As for how it hand-cuffed Philly...well... the optics may be bad, re the instant injury after the trade, but nothing that untoward. As for negotiating his maximum future income....not sure if this was the best play. Maybe this thing going to arbitration is somehow their best play?
It is interesting that the Avalanche have no part in it. Can a team trade for a player without knowing that said player will simply not report, if traded (maybe) or demoted (actually), and instead claim season-ending injury? Can't you do anything to find out about this before the fact? Seems wrong, and I'm not sure that that type of risk could even legitimately be accepted.