Since their inception in 1967 the Philadelphia Flyers have never been afraid to make trades. Along the way, they acquired plenty of player that were selected in the first round. 54 years in and 128 first round picks so far have suited up for the Flyers. Below is a comprehensive list of every Flyer that was drafted in the first round.
1967
Serge Bernier– The organization’s very first draft pick. Played 123 games over four seasons.
1968
Lew Morrison– Played three seasons with the Flyers until he was selected in the Atlanta expansion draft.
Danny Schock– Was the first player selected by another team in the first round to play for the Flyers.
1969
Andre Dupont– The first “Moose” to play in Philly, he’s best known for his 1,505 penalty minutes during his eight years in Philly. He’s still third all-time in Flyers history in the PIM category.
1970
Reggie Leach– Drafted third overall and acquired by the Flyers in 1974, he helped bring a Cup to Philly in 1975.
Rick MacLeish– The fourth overall pick was originally owned by the Flyers but traded to Boston. The Flyers acquired MacLeish in January on 1971 and was apart of both Stanley Cup teams.
Darryl Sittler– Has a very successful 12-year stint in Toronto before his three seasons in Philly. He’s best remembered for being traded to Detroit the day he was supposed to be named team captain.
Serge Lajeunesse- Played six NHL games for the Flyers after a disappointing run in Detroit.
1971
Larry Wright– Played two games in Philly
Pierre Plante– Played 24 games in Philly.
1972
Bill Barber-The Flyers’ 7th overall pick. Holds the record for most goals and second most points in Flyers’ history.
Michel Larocque– Only played two games in Philly.
Dave Gardner– Also only played two games in Philly.
1973
nobody
1974
nobody
1975
Mel Bridgman– Philadelphia’s only first 1st overall pick. Could shoot, fight, and play a solid defensive game.
Rick Lapointe- Played two and a half season in Philly.
1976
Mark Suzor– Played four games in Philly
1977
Kevin McCarthy– Played 84 games in Philly before being traded to Vancouver where he would eventually earn the captaincy.
1978
Behn Wilson– Holds team rookie scoring records for a defenseman in goals (13), points (36) and penalty minutes (197)
Ken Linseman– Racked up over 500 penalty minutes in four seasons in Philly. Was traded for Flyers great Mark Howe.
Willie Huber– Played 10 games in Philly at the end of his career. Was the biggest player in NHL history (6’5 228lbs) for the first nine years of his career.
Brad Marsh– Set personal career bests in goals, points and penalty penalty minutes.
Danny Lucas– Played six games in Philly.
Al Secord– Played 20 games in Philly.
1979
Rob Ramage– First overall pick by the Colorado Rockies. Played 15 games in Philly in 1994 before retiring.
Brian Propp– Ended up being one of the best scorers in Flyers history, sitting second all time in goals and fourth in points.
Brad McCrimmon– Played 1,222 NHL games, 367 of which were with Philly. Won the Barry Ashbee Trophy in 1986.
Jay Wells– The second “Hammer” to play in Philly.
Ray Allison– 168 of his 238 NHL games took place with the Flyers.
1980
Paul Coffey– Played a season and a half seasons in Philadelphia 20 years into his career like a boss.
Fred Arthur– Played 77 games as a Flyer. Retired to become a doctor.
Mike Bullard– Just kind of existed.
Mike Stothers– Played 12 NHL games over four seasons as a Flyer, but mainly played for their AHL affiliate.
1981
Dale Hawerchuk– First overall pick by the Jets. Played 66 games in Philly before retiring after 1,188 NHL games.
Steve Smith– Not the football player. Played 14 games as a Flyer over six seasons, mainly playing in the AHL.
1982
Ron Sutter– 4th overall pick in 1982. Played 9 season in Philadelphia.
Rich Sutter– Ron’s twin brother acquired in 1983 and played three seasons concurrent in Philly with him.
Paul Lawless– Played eight games in Philly.
Murray Craven– One of the best forgotten trades in Flyers’ history.
1983
nobody
1984
Petr Svoboda– Fifth overall pick that lived and trained behind the iron curtain. Played parts of five seasons as a Flyer.
J.J. Daigneault– Acquired from Vancouver and played two seasons in Philly, one being marred by injuries.
Terry Carkner– Racked up 867 penalty minutes in five seasons.
Mikael Andersson– Played 43 games in Philly.
1985
Brent Fedyk– Recorded back-to-back 20-goal seasons from 1992 to 1994.
Glen Seabrooke– Played 19 games in Philly.
1986
Shawn Anderson– Played one game in Philly.
Kerry Huffman– Had a hell of a mullet.
1987
Luke Richardson– Five of his 21 NHL seasons came as a Flyer.
Jody Hull– Who names their kid Jody?
Darren Rumble– Had two stints as a Flyer playing 18 games collectively.
1988
Jeremy Roenick– It’s actually impressive Roenick was drafted in ’88 and didn’t play for the Flyers until 2001 and didn’t retire until 2009.
Rod Brind’Amour– One of the true prototypical Flyers of all-time.
Corey Foster– Played 25 games as a Flyer.
Claude Boivin– He was a dude.
1989
Mike Sillinger– One of his NHL record 12 teams he played for.
1990
Petr Nedved- Played 49 games in Philly and scored a whopping six goals.
Keith Primeau– Captain from 2002 to 2005.
Mike Ricci– Traded in the Lindros deal.
Jaromir Jagr– In possibly the biggest draft flub in history, the Flyers selected Ricci one spot ahead of Jagr. Though he’d end up playing in Philly during the 2011-12 season and still looked great doing so.
Derian Hatcher– Played parts of three seasons as a Flyer. Of no relation to Taryn.
John Slaney– Set a bunch of AHL records while playing for the Phantoms. Played five games for the Flyers.
Turner Stevenson– Played 31 games in Philly before retiring.
Mark Greig– Played in the Flyers organization from 1998 to 2003 and is still a scout for them to this day.
Karl Dykhuis– Traded to and fro Tampa as part of the Flyers offer sheeting Chris Gratton.
Shawn Antoski– Drafted by the Canucks ahead of Keith Tkachuk and Martin Brodeur.
1991
Eric Lindros– Ended up being one of the greatest players in franchise history, even if the trade to land him has become one of the greatest “what if” moments in history too.
Pat Falloon– Fat Balloon was acquired for a first round pick that was used to select Danny Briere.
Peter Forsberg– Dealt to Quebec as part of the Lindros trade but eventually played for the Flyers from 2005 to 2007.
1992
Mike Rathje– By the time Rathje made his way to Philly in 2005 he was a slow, injured mess, but he was a hell of a player for the Sharks in the late 1990s.
Jason Bowen– In the Flyers organization from 1992 to 1998.
Jason Smith– Maybe the last true badass in Flyers history.
1993
Alexandre Daigle– “I’m glad I got drafted first, because no one remembers number two.”
Chris Pronger– Number two was better.
Chris Gratton– The only offer sheet the Flyers ever successfully signed someone to.
1994
Nolan Baumgartner- Was technically part of the Lindros trade with the Nordiques and later returned to Philly and played six games during the 2006-07 season before being claimed on re-entry waivers.
1995
Daymond Langkow- Acquired when the Flyers undid the Chris Gratton offer sheet. Was eventually traded for the pick that drafted Jeff Carter.
Martin Biron- Part of the massive overhaul in the summer of 2007.
Denis Gauthier- Played 60 games in Philly.
Brian Boucher- Had not one, not two, but three stints as a Flyer.
1996
Dainius Zubrus- Was the first Lithuania born player to play in 1,000+ NHL games, 200 of which came in Philly.
Daniel Briere- Was actually drafted with a pick originally belonging to the Flyers. Signed in Philly during the summer of 07.
1997
Nick Boynton- Drafted by the Caps 9th overall but didn’t sign a contract with them.
1998
Vincent Lecavalier- First overall pick by Tampa. Signed in Philly long after he was useful.
Eric Chouinard- He was a dude.
Simon Gagne- One of the greatest Flyers of all time.
1999
Pavel Brendl- Acquired when the Flyers dealt Lindros to the Rangers, yet another famous draft bust.
Nick Boynton- Drafted 21st overall by Boston, this time signing an ELC with them.
Maxime Ouellet– Played two games in 2001.
2000
Scott Hartnell– That guy who falls down a lot and impersonated Hulk Hogan once.
Justin Williams- Drafted by the Flyers 28th overall and traded away in 2004 after multiple knee injuries.
2001
R.J. Umberger- two-time Flyer best remembered as the guy who got hit by Brian Campbell.
Carlo Colaiacovo- Played 33 games in Philly.
Lukas Krajicek- Played 27 games as a Flyer.
2002
Joni Pitkanen- A top offensive defenseman during his three seasons in Philly.
Scottie Upshall- Dry island, anyone?
Joffrey Lupul- He was fine.
Steve Eminger– Had PTSD just typing this name.
Boyd Gordon– The guy who scored the first goal of the 2016-17 season and disappeared soon after.
Ben Eager– Led the NHL in penalty minutes with 233 in 63 games in 2006-07.
2003
Nikolai Zherdev– He returned from the KHL only to be deemed a lazy player by Laviolette then left for Russia again.
Braydon Coburn– One of the best under-the-radar trades in Flyers’ history.
Jeff Carter– The Flyers acquired this pick in 2001 from the Coyotes in exchange for Daymond Langkow.
Mike Richards– The Flyers’ own first round pick in 2003. What they wouldn’t give for a Richards-esque player today.
2004
Andrej Meszaros– A fairly underrated player during his four-year tenure. Won the Barry Ashbee Trophy as the Flyers top defenseman in 2010-11.
2005
Ryan Parent– The return on the Forsberg-to-Nashville trade. A complete failure.
Matt Niskanen– Somehow the most important Flyer in recent history.
Steve Downie– Noted piece of human shit. Somehow played here twice.
2006
Chris Stewart– The guy that nobody liked but never actually did anything wrong.
Claude Giroux– The G.F.O.A.T.
2007
James Van Riemsdyk– Coulda been Patrick Kane.
Sam Gagner– This was a thing for a minute.
Jake Voracek– He’s still here.
2008
Luke Schenn– In the lower half of Schenn brothers in the league.
Luca Sbisa– That defenseman who played forward then got traded for Chris Pronger.
Michael Del Zotto- MDZ had one good season in 2009 and has made a career of it since.
2009
Brayden Schenn– In the upper half of Schenn brothers in the league.
2010
Kevin Hayes– Hollywood Hayes, brother.
2011
Sean Couturier- Your 2020 Selke winner.
2012
Scott Laughton– Just continues to get better 10 years after his draft class.
2013
Samuel Morin– The greatest defenseman-turned-forward-turned-defenseman of all time.
Ryan Hartman– Played 19 games in 2019 after being acquired in the Wayne Simmonds trade.
2014
Travis Sanheim– He’s a dude.
2015
Ivan Provorov– The crown jewel of the Hextall era.
Travis Konency- The other noteworthy first round pick of the Hextall era.
2016
German Rubtsov– Played four NHL games.
2017
Nolan Patrick– Let’s not talk about this one.
Morgan Frost– Let’s not talk about this one either.
2018
Joel Farabee– Goal Farabae is a star in the making.
2019
Cam York– The most recent first round pick to make his debut for the Flyers.
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By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: bleacherreport.com / notinthehalloffame.com / brianpropp.com / delcotimes.com
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