If you can’t think of a single trade between the Flyers and Stars off the top of your head, we can’t blame you. There are few teams the Flyers have a less impactful trade history with. Of the eight trades the two organizations have made, none have had franchise altering impacts or even long-term lingering effects. Although there are a few that make pose the “what if” question if the trigger was never pulled on those deals.
3/21/94 – 1994 eighth round pick (Raymond Giroux) for Pelle Eklund
Pelle Eklund was a nine-year veteran with the Flyers, but his play had diminished by the 1993-94 season and he was shipped to Dallas where he’d play just five games before heading back to his native Sweden to finish out his career.
Defenseman Raymond Giroux was drafted 202nd overall by the Flyers in 1994. He never played a game for the organization and his rights were traded to the Islanders in 1998.
12/13/95 – Trent Klatt for Brent Fedyk
Trent Klatt had spent three seasons with the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars organization before this trade. He played parts of four seasons with the Flyers and had the best statical season of his career in 1996-97 with 24 goals and 45 points. He was traded to Vancouver just two games into the 1998-99 campaign.
Fedyk has bounced around the Red Wings system for five seasons before being acquired by the Flyers where he’d become one-third of the “crazy eights” line with Eric Lindros and Mark Recchi. His production declined when that line was broken up and injuries impacted his third season in Philly, ultimately leading to this trade. He spent 41 games with the Dallas Stars during the 1995-96 season before spending most of the rest of his career in the IHF.
6/21/97 – 1998 second round pick (Chris Bala)(traded to OTT) for 1997 third round pick (Steve Gainey)
This trade was Dallas getting back into the second round of the 1997 draft after dealing their own pick away to the Islanders a month prior. The Stars selected forward Steve Gainey 77th overall in 1997. He’d play just 13 games for them over the four seasons, spending most of that time in the AHL.
The Flyers would later package the 1998 second round pick and send it to the Ottawa Senators as part of the Alexander Daigle deal in January of 1998. Chris Bala played just six NHL games in his career.
2/16/04 – Steve Gainey for Mike Siklenka
Steve Gainey, whom the Stars drafted with the Flyers’ pick a few years earlier, was acquired by Philadelphia and he spent 27 games to close out the 2003-04 season in the AHL. He was not re-signed by the club after the lockout.
Mike Siklenka was a defenseman who played just a single game with the Flyers. He concluded the season in the AHL, never playing for the Stars. He played hockey for 10 more years after this trade, mainly in the EBEL, an Austrian based league.
3/8/04 – 2004 eighth round pick (Martin Houle) and 2005 third round pick (Chris Lawerence)(traded to TBL) for Chris Therien
Chris Therien played nine-and-a-half seasons with the Flyers before this trade. He suited up for 11 regular season games and five playoff games with the Stars. He was not re-signed after the lockout and rejoined the Flyers for the 2005-06 season.
The Flyers drafted goaltender Martin Houle 232nd overall in 2004. He played three seasons in the organization including a single NHL game in December of 2006.
The 2005 third round pick was traded to Tampa along with a 2005 fourth for a second round pick in 2006. The Flyers would later flip the 2006 second round pick to the Coyotes in exchange for defenseman Denis Gauthier at the 2006 trade deadline.
12/10/07 – 2009 conditional seventh round pick for Jussi Timonen
Jussi Timonen played a season and a half with the Flyers’ organization, mainly in the AHL. He never played an NHL game for the Stars, suiting up for 33 AHL games before heading back to his native Finland during the 2008 offseason.
The 2009 seventh round in the trade was conditional. The condition is unknown and it was never dealt to the Flyers, although it was eventually dealt to San Jose for a 2010 sixth round pick which was later traded to the Senators and used to select forward Mark Stone.
2/16/12 – Nick Grossmann for 2012 second round pick (Devin Shore) and 2013 third round pick (Jake Guentzel)
Nick Grossmann was originally drafted as a right wing by the Stars in 2004, but was converted to a full-time defenseman upon his transition to North American ice. He spent seven season within Dallas’ organization before this trade. Grossmann continued his role as a defensive defenseman with the Flyers for an additional four seasons, scoring just 38 points in 198 games in Philly. He was traded to Arizona in 2015 in a move that allowed the Flyers to dump Chris Pronger’s contract in the desert.
Dallas drafted forward Devin Shore 61st overall in 2012. After three seasons at the University of Maine, he spent five seasons within the Stars organization and was traded to the Ducks in January of 2019.
The Stars would later trade that third round pick in a deal that sent longtime forward Brenden Morrow to the Penguins at the 2013 trade deadline. The Penguins would draft forward Jake Guentzel 77th overall and he’d spend a vast majority of his career riding shotgun to Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh.
6/24/19 – Tyler Pitlick for Ryan Hartman
Tyler Pitlick was coming into his own as a depth forward with the Stars after bouncing around the Edmonton Oilers organization for five seasons. He only played one season with the Flyers, dressing in 63 games and serving mainly in a penalty killing role. He wasn’t re-signed during the 2020 offseason.
Ryan Hartman was the “crown jewel” return from the Wayne Simmonds trade to Nashville at the 2019 trade deadline. He played 19 games to conclude the season with the Flyers before this trade. He was pending restricted free agent at the time of the trade. The next day, the Stars did not qualify Hartman, who signed with the Minnesota Wild during free agency.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
brotherlypuck.com 