Philadelphia Flyers Daily: Top Five Deadline Deals
With the 2017 NHL trade deadline behind us, we thought we’d take a look at some the most significant deadline deals the Philadelphia Flyers have made over the last 50 years.
We took a look at every trade the Philadelphia Flyers have made and considered only those made in February and March. (Which rules out, for example, the trade that brought Eric Lindros to Philadelphia.) We looked at what the Flyers got, what they gave up, and the trade’s ultimate impact on the team—and its fans.
5.) Feb. 19, 1992—Recchi From PIT for Tocchet, Samuelsson, Wregget
This trade was big on both ends. Rick Tocchet had had some very productive years in Philadelphia, including a 45-goal campaign in ’89, a 96-point season in ’90, and three ALL-Star Game appearances.
Mark Recchi, meanwhile, had scored 113 points the previous season, and he was threatening to do it again when the trade was made.
In addition to Tocchet, the Flyers sent defenseman Kjell Samuelsson, goalie Ken Wregget, and a third-round pick. Pittsburgh’s package also included defenseman Brian Benning and a first-rounder.
Recchi finished the ’92 season with 97 points. He scored 123 points (53 G, 70 A) in his first full season in the orange and black, a team record. That was also the year that Eric Lindros made his NHL debut. He, Recchi, and Brent Fedyk would eventually come together to form the Crazy Eights line. (Their numbers were 88, 8, and 18).
Despite Recchi’s productivity, the Flyers missed the playoffs every year during his first stint here. He would be sent to Montreal in 1995 in an even more important deal. (More on that later.) But in 1999, he returned to Philadelphia and played another five seasons here.
By the time Recchi left for good, he had scored the eight-most points in team history—627 (232 G, 395 A).
4.) Feb. 27, 2015—Timonen to CHI for Picks
It’s not uncommon to see struggling teams trade aging veterans who have yet to win a Stanley Cup to a contender. And it’s great to see those guys go on to lift the Cup. Ray Bourque is the best example of that.
It’s still bittersweet, though. As a fan of the player, you love to see him achieve his lifelong dream. But you wish so badly that he had done it with your team. Such was the case with Kimmo Timonen.
The ‘06-07 season was the worst in Flyers history. To his credit, general manager Paul Holmgren made a lot of moves to try to right the ship. Before the deadline, he traded Peter Forsberg to the Nashville Predators for a package that included their first-round pick. In the following offseason, Holmgren sent the pick back to Nashville for Scott Hartnell and Kimmo Timonen.
Timonen’s offensive skill was apparent. You just had to look at the stat sheet. But despite his smaller size (5’10”), he was an excellent shut-down defenseman.
“Kimmo is a tremendous two-way defenseman,” Holmgren said. “He’s smart and he plays around bigger guys.” (Associated Press)
And Timonen was tough. He seemed willing to play through anything. Timonen was never afraid to block a shot. Countless times we saw him get in the way of a blast, limp to the bench, wince in pain for a few moments, then hop over the boards for his next shift. In the 2008 playoffs, he suffered a blood clot after blocking a shot with his foot. But with the Flyers facing elimination against the Penguins in game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, he fought through the pain and played. The Flyers lost, but the fans recognized the sacrifice.
Two years later, Timonen led the Flyers’ defense during the 2010 trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. He and the rest of the Flyers came within two wins of having their names engraved on the Cup forever.
Leading up to the 2014-15 season, the Flyers hadn’t gotten past the second round of the playoffs since the 2010 Cup run. And, in August 2014, Timonen was hospitalized with blood clots in his lungs and leg. He missed 62 games, and by the time he was medically cleared to play, the Flyers were out of contention. Without playing a game for the Flyers that year, GM Ron Hextall traded him to Chicago for what turned out to be two second-rounders.
And Timonen finally got to hoist the Cup.
Timonen represented the Flyers at two All-Star Games and won the Barry Ashbee Trophy, given to the team’s best defenseman, five times. Only Eric Desjardins has more, with seven. Among Flyers defenseman, he’s third all-time in points with 270. His 519 games played are good for 10th.
Though he played more games in Nashville, he’ll always be remembered here.
3.) Feb. 24, 2007—Coburn From ATL for Zhitnik
Of all the moves Holmgren made after the disastrous 2007 season, this was the most lopsided. It may be the most one-sided deal made since the lockout.
Earlier in the season, Holmgren acquired defenseman Alexei Zhitnik. He was 34, but he was still producing. A few weeks later, Holmgren dealt him to the Atlanta Thrashers for Braydon Coburn, a rookie defenseman drafted three years before.
If this list were based purely on return on investment, this trade would be number one. To get Zhitnik, the Flyers gave up a third-rounder and Freddy Meyer, an undrafted free agent on an entry-level contract who wound up playing a total of 281 career games. And Zhitnik played only another 83 games after he was traded before Atlanta bought out his contract.
Coburn, meanwhile, was a top Flyers defenseman for years. He played 576 games here, the seventh most among defenseman. Coburn wasn’t flashy offensively, but he had a solid defensive game, and he was a good skater. Some may have wanted a bit more out of him, but there’s no denying the value of the trade.
2.) March 2, 1990—Propp to BOS for Pick
Shortly before the end of his first run as Flyers general manager, Bob Clarke traded Brian Propp to the Boston Bruins. In exchange, the Flyers got a second-round draft pick. They used it to draft defenseman Terry Sandwith. Sandwith played a career total of eight NHL games, none of which were for the Flyers.
It was an awful trade. The Flyers gave up one of the best scorers to ever don the orange and black. He’s second in Flyers history in both goals (369) and assists (463). He had played in five All-Star Games, scored at least 40 goals in a season four times, and played in the Stanley Cup Finals three times (losing to the Islanders in ’80 and the Edmonton Oilers in ’85 and ’87). Sure, he was older, but he was coming off two 70-point seasons.
And it was hard to accept that he wouldn’t raise the Cup as a Flyer, but everyone was pulling for him in Boston.
In Clarke’s words, “It was the right time for Brian [to go]. And I was glad it was to Boston. He was a good player for this organization for a long time, and I thought sending him to a good team might salvage his career.” (Bill Meltzer)
But as bad as the trade was, the worst part was that Propp never won the Cup.
Like Timonen, he was traded to a contender by a Flyers team that was out of the running. With Boston, he made it to his fourth Stanley Cup Finals, eventually losing to the Edmonton Oilers for the third time. He made it to the Finals again the next year, playing for the Minnesota North Stars (with Clarke as GM). His team lost again, this time to Mario Lemieux and the rest of the Pittsburgh Penguins. That was his last appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals.
1.) Feb. 9, 1995—LeClair, Desjardins, Dionne from MON for Recchi, Pick
The trade that first brought Recchi to Philadelphia made number five on our list. And as we mentioned, the trade that saw him leave town was even more important.
That year, the NHL played a shortened season because of a lockout. It didn’t start until January, and teams played only 48 games.
Two years before, in 1993, the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup. They got significant contributions from two promising young players: left wing John LeClair and defenseman Eric Desjardins. LeClair scored 10 points in 20 games that postseason. Desjardins scored 14, including the three he got when he became the only defenseman to ever score a hat trick in a Stanley Cup Final game.
So why would Montreal trade away such potential?
By February of 1995, the Canadiens were on the verge of missing the playoffs for the first time in 25 years. To try to save the season, they traded potential for a known commodity. They sent LeClair, Desjardins, and left wing Gilbert Dionne to Philadelphia in exchange for a third-rounder and Recchi, fresh off his third 100-point season in four years.
Either Desjardins or LeClair alone would have made this a good trade.
As mentioned, Desjardins was productive in Montreal. And he won a Cup there. But he anchored the Flyers defensive corps for 11 years in Philadelphia. And he continued to produce, scoring at least 50 points twice. With the Flyers, he made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1997 and the Eastern Conference Finals in 1995 and 2000.
In later years, he and Timonen were often compared with each other. And Desjardins saw some similarities too.
“All around, maybe that’s where I can compare myself with Kimmo. I think Kimmo’s more of an all-around defenseman, more offense than defense, really good positional player, didn’t run around for no reason. That was my kind of game.” (Wayne Fish)
Desjardins retired as a Flyer after the 2006 season. He played in 738 games for them, third most among defensemen. And he’s second in goals (93), assists (303), and points (396) among defensemen. He won the Barry Ashbee Trophy a record seven times.
And then there’s John LeClair.
He was put on a line with Lindros and Mikael Renberg, and the Legion of Doom was born. They terrorized the NHL for three years, culminating in a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1997. Where, of course, the Detroit Red Wings swept the Flyers.
But as a unit, the Legion of Doom scored 666 points over parts of three seasons and 130 postseason points. For his part, LeClair accounted for 243 of those regular-season points (126 G, 117 A) and 44 of the playoff points (20 G, 24 A). In ’96 and ’97, his first two full seasons as a Flyer, he potted 51 and 50 goals, respectively.
After getting swept by Detroit, the Flyers traded Renberg. But LeClair and Lindros continued to produce. He scored 51 goals that year, becoming the first American player to score at least 50 in three consecutive seasons. And he had at least 40 in the next two.
After the 2004-05 lockout, the NHL implemented a salary cap, and the Flyers bought out LeClair’s contract. He finished fifth in team history in goals with 333, and he’s seventh in points with 643.