When mentioning the Philadelphia Flyers and Ottawa Senators in the same breath, it’s hard to think of anything else other than the infamous March 5, 2004 brawl between them. The 419 penalty minutes that were handed out was a new NHL record, and the Flyers claiming 213 of them was also a new organizational best. The teams would replicate their battle in 2011, but it couldn’t hold a candle to the original spectacle that took place almost a decade earlier.
The Flyers and Senators were on radio silence since that scrap, not coming together for a trade since June of 2001 until over 20 years later at the 2023 trade deadline. Though the teams did cross paths relatively frequently on the trade route during the Senators first decade in the league throughout the 1990’s.
3/5/94 – Mark Lamb for Claude Boivin and rights to Kirk Daubenspeck
Mark lamb joined the Senators during the 1992 expansion draft when he was selected from the Edmonton Oilers. He played less than two seasons with them as he was flipped to the Philadelphia Flyers at the 1994 trade deadline. In return, the Senators acquired forward Claude Boivin, who spent the previous three seasons being yo-yo’ed from the Flyers to the AHL. He played 18 games with the Senators after the trade, though mostly playing with the Sens’ AHL affiliate the PEI Senators.
They also received the rights to Kirk Daubenspeck, who was a goalie the Flyers drafted in the seventh round in 1992. He was in the middle of his freshman season playing for the Wisconsin Badgers at the time of the trade. He’d never play for the Senators, but did become a longtime ECHL goaltender and AHL journeyman instead.
Lamb would play just 27 games for the Flyers over the following season-and-a-half before he was traded to the Canadiens for cash considerations in February of 1995.
1/23/96 – Dan Quinn for cash
Dan Quinn’s first tenure with the Flyers was when he was acquired alongside Rod Brind’Amour from St. Louis in 1991. He had a disappointing season and wasn’t offered a contract during the summer. He’d bounce around the league for the next few seasons before signing as a free agent with the Ottawa Senators in 1995. He’d play just 28 games before once again being acquired by the Flyers. Quinn would play 35 games in his return to Philadelphia, scoring 21 points, but was once again ultimately not re-signed by the Flyers in the offseason. He played 16 more games with the Penguins in 1996-97 before calling it a career.
3/19/96 – Kerry Huffman for 1996 ninth round pick (Sami Salo)
Kerry Huffman was a 20th overall pick by the Flyers in 1986 and would spend six seasons with the organization before being shipped off to the Quebec Nordiques in the famous Eric Lindros trade in the 1992 offseason. He’d spend two seasons in Quebec and two-and-a-half seasons with the Senators before being re-acquired by the Flyers in this trade. Huffman would play only four games in his return to Philly. He’d go on to play three seasons in the International Hockey League before hanging up the skates, making his short-lived return to the Flyers the last NHL games of his career.
The Senators used that 1996 draft pick on defenseman Sami Salo, who’d play 195 games in Ottawa before being traded to Vancouver where he’d play for nine seasons.
10/21/97 – Mike Maneluk for cash
Mike Maneluk was an undrafted forward, who had been a part of the Ducks and Senators organizations but never played a game for either. He was acquired by the Flyers and spent the 1997-98 season with the Phantoms. He’d play 13 games with the Flyers during the 1998-99 season, scoring two goals and eight points before being dealt to the Blackhawks in November of 1998.
1/17/98 – Alexandre Daigle for Vaclav Prospal, Pat Falloon and 1998 second round pick (Chris Bala)
Infamous 1993 first overall pick Alexandre Daigle was drafted by the Senators, who were accused of tanking to land him. He was signed to a massive five-year, $12.25 million deal. He scored 20 goals and 51 points in 84 games during his rookie season, though he’d struggle for a majority of the next four years in Ottawa. Daigle was acquired by the Flyers in exchange for fellow draft bust Pat Falloon, Vinny Prospal, and a 1998 second round pick.
Daigle would only play 68 games in Philly over the next calendar year and scored 12 goals and 31 points. He was dealt to the Edmonton Oilers just over a year later for Andrei Kovalenko.
Prospal was the Flyers’ 73rd overall pick in 1993 and spent four-and-a-half seasons in the organization until this trade. He would play four seasons in Ottawa until being traded to the Florida Panthers in 2001.
Pat Falloon, originally the second overall pick in 2001 (and widely considered one of the biggest draft busts of all time behind Daigle), spent four seasons in San Jose before being acquired by the Flyers in November of 1995. After two more underwhelming seasons in Philly, he was shipped to Ottawa where he’d play 28 games scoring just six points.
1998 second round pick was used to select forward Chris Bala, who played six NHL games for the Senators in 2002. He bounced around the AHL and ECHL for many years before retiring in 2009.
6/23/01 – 2001 first round pick (Jeff Woywitka), 2001 seventh round pick (David Printz) and 2002 second round pick (Tobias Stephan) for 2001 first round pick (Tim Gleason)
The last deal between the two clubs before a 20-year silence occurred at the 2001 draft when the Senators moved up four spots with the Flyers, from 27th to 23rd overall.
The Sens would select defenseman Tim Gleason, who didn’t sign with them and got shipped to LA in exchange for Bryan Smolinksi in 2003.
The Flyers would take defenseman Jeff Woywitka 27th overall. He played part of one season with the Phantoms before being traded to Edmonton as part of the Mike Comrie deal in 2003.
David Printz, a defenseman, played 13 games for the Flyers and 192 games for the Phantoms between 2004 and 2007 before returning to his native Sweden to play the rest of his career.
The 2002 second round pick was traded from Philly to Tampa Bay as part of a package (Ruslan Fedotenko and an additional 2002 second round pick) to move up to 4th overall and select defenseman Joni Pitkanen in 2002. The 34th overall pick was again traded from Tampa to Dallas, who would select goaltender Tobias Stephan who played 11 NHL games with the Stars, but most notably played his career in his native Switzerland.
3/3/23- 2023 sixth round pick (Ryan MacPherson) for Patrick Brown
The first trade between the teams in nearly 22 years wasn’t much to write home about. The Flyers dealt 30-year-old depth forward Patrick Brown to the Senators in exchange for a sixth round pick they eventually used to select forward Ryan MacPherson 172nd overall in 2023.
Brown played 18 games with the Senators scoring five points, but the team missed the playoffs. He signed with the Bruins during the 2023 offseason.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
brotherlypuck.com 