Former Flyers In The 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Round One

For the tenth straight season, the Philadelphia Flyers alternated between making and missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs, this time missing the 2021 postseason. But that did not stop a wide selection of players who formerly donned the Orange and Black from making it into the playoffs on other teams.

This list includes a lot of familiar names, some of who spent more than a few years in Philadelphia. Not everyone has appeared in at least one game so there are a few names left off this list. An honorable mention goes out to players such as Petr Mrazek, Braydon Coburn, and Mark Friedman.

Not every player who formally played for the Flyers had a big role on their postseason team, omitting them from this list. So that would take Luke Schenn off as well.

Most of the players mentioned down below have also not been in a Flyers uniform for quite some time. But isn’t it always fun to check in on how old friends are doing?

Former Flyers In The Postseason

Wayne Simmonds – TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Simmonds was a longtime fan favorite in Philadelphia, playing 2011 to 2019 after being one of the pieces that the team acquired in the Mike Richards deal with Los Angeles. He gave the Maple Leafs a huge boost this season with his physical style of play.

Simmonds, a native of Scarborough, Ontario, signed as a free agent with the club he grew up less than an hour away from after he played with the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres in the abbreviated 2019-20 season.

His veteran presence in Toronto helped give the team a calming sense of comfort and stability, and it helped the Maple Leafs clinch the top spot in the North Division. The Maple Leafs, who have not won a playoff series since 2004, were poised for their deepest playoff run in years and Simmonds was a key piece in making that happen.

Simmonds did score seven goals and two assists for nine points in 38 regular-season games. He recorded an assist in the Maple Leafs’ opening round matchup against the Montreal Canadiens. He played in every postseason game, registering 9 shots on goal and 13 hits in the series. However, Toronto shockingly fell to the Montreal Canadiens in another embarrassing playoff showing in seven games, a series in which Toronto led 3-1.

Ryan Hartman & Cam Talbot – MINNESOTA WILD

Hartman and Talbot were two key pieces of the Wild’s wonderful season that saw them finish third in the West Division. They earned a first round playoff date with the Vegas Golden Knights. The Wild were down 3-1 in the series and forced a Game 7, but could not overcome the Golden Knights’ offense in a crushing 6-2 Game 7 loss at T-Mobile Arena.

Talbot, who played goal for 4 games with the Flyers in 2019 after being acquired from Edmonton for Anthony Stolarz, enjoyed a resurgent season in Minnesota. The 33 year-old Caledonia, Ontario native posted a 19-8-5 record in 33 games this season to go along with a .915 SV%, 2.63 GAA, and 2 shutouts.

Talbot’s playoff run was fantastic despite his 3-4 record, as he recorded a .923 SV% and 2.45 GAA along with two shutouts that occurred in Game 1 and Game 6. His efforts were not enough however as Vegas overpowered Minnesota.

Hartman, who the Flyers acquired from Nashville for Wayne Simmonds in 2019 and was dealt later in the offseason to Dallas for Tyler Pitlick, enjoyed a solid season by scoring 7 goals and 15 assists for 22 points in 51 regular season contests.

Hartman’s playoff contributions included 2 goals in the 7-game series, one of which was the opening goal in Game 6 that stood as the decider in a 3-0 Wild win to send the series back to Sin City for a Game 7. He also recorded 17 shots on goal and averaged 17:06 of ice time in the series.

Brayden Schenn – ST. LOUIS BLUES

Schenn had another great season with the St. Louis Blues, netting 16 goals and 20 assists for 36 points in 56 games. The 29 year-old Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native spent six seasons with the Flyers before being dealt to the Blues at the 2017 NHL Draft, in which the Flyers received the picks that got them Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee along with two insufferable seasons of Jori Lehterä.

While both sides are still reaping the benefits of the deal, especially the Flyers in the long-term, Schenn did help the Blues win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history in 2019. This year he looked to help his team win their second championship in three seasons, but it was not meant to be as the Colorado Avalanche easily swept Schenn and the Blues in four games.

Schenn recorded only one goal for St. Louis, a power play marker in Game 2 to pull the Blues within a goal of the Avalanche at the time, but the Blues fell 6-3 in the game despite their efforts. It was his lone point in the series as Colorado greatly overpowered St. Louis en route to a second round series date with the Vegas Golden Knights.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – COLORADO AVALANCHE

Bellemare was a Flyers depth piece from 2014 to 2017 before he was claimed by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 Expansion Draft. This season he appeared in 53 games for the Avalanche, registering nine goals and two assists for 11 points. His nine goals tied a single-season career-high that he set last year.

Bellemare appeared in all four of Colorado’s first round games against the St. Louis Blues, notching an assist on J.T. Compher’s empty-net tally in the Avalanche’s 5-1 victory in Game 3 for his lone point in his team’s sweep.

The 36 year-old Le Blanc-Mesnil, France native has been a key contributor in Colorado’s bottom-six group all season and has continued to muck away and be a solid player in a depth role for the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche. They are currently taking on the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round.

Erik Gustafsson – MONTREAL CANADIENS

Gustafsson’s time in Philadelphia was not one that will be remembered joyfully. He recorded one goal and nine assists for 10 points in 24 games with the Flyers. However, he was also a huge defensive liability whenever he stepped on the ice.

The 29 year-old defenseman from Nynashamn, Sweden was traded to the Montreal Canadiens at the trade deadline for a 2022 7th-round pick, and subsequently appeared in five games with the Canadiens, posting two assists in that time frame.

Gustafsson was a healthy scratch from Dominique Ducharme’s lineup for the first four games of Montreal’s opening round matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was inserted into the lineup in Game 5 to provide Montreal with more offensive help, especially on the power play. Gustafsson was a +2 with a 64.7 Corsi-For% in the game, which ended up being a 4-3 overtime victory at Scotiabank Arena to keep Montreal alive.

Gustafsson would suit up again in Game 6 in front of the Habs faithful at Bell Centre in another elimination game for the Canadiens. He played less than seven minutes in the 3-2 overtime win as the Canadiens downed the Maple Leafs to force a Game 7.

Gustafsson’s Canadiens would persevere after trailing the Maple Leafs 3-1 in the series to shock the world in Game 7 and defeat Toronto on their own ice to advance to the second round to take on the #2 seeded Winnipeg Jets.

Gustafsson recorded an assist on Corey Perry’s power play goal in the 2nd period, which stood as the series-clinching goal in a 3-1 game victory for Montreal.

Nick Cousins – NASHVILLE PREDATORS

Cousins, a former third-round pick of Philadelphia who played parts of his first three NHL seasons with the Flyers, had an okay season for Nashville. He racked up five goals and 13 assists for 18 points in 52 regular season appearances in his first season with the Predators.

Cousins played in four of Nashville’s six games in the first round against the Carolina Hurricanes. He potted 2 goals, which included the third and tying goal in Game 4 at Bridgestone Arena, which the Predators would go on to win in double overtime thanks to Luke Kunin.

Despite their best efforts, the Predators would lose the series and the Hurricanes advanced to take on the defending Stanley Cup champions in the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round.

Jeff Carter – PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Carter, a goal-scoring fan favorite who played from 2005 to 2011 with Philadelphia before his trade to the Columbus Blue Jackets, actually started the season with the Los Angeles Kings. He ended up being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the trade deadline in a move made by former Flyers general manager Ron Hextall.

Carter scored nine goals and two assists in 14 regular season games before the top-seeded Penguins’ first round matchup against the New York Islanders. Carter continued to keep his momentum flowing and netted four goals and one assist in the series for Pittsburgh.

Despite the 36 year-old’s fantastic play, it was not enough as the Islanders defeated the Penguins in six games to advance to the second round to take on the Boston Bruins. In the series, Carter led all Penguins in goals and was tied for second on the team in points with Evgeni Malkin, and only behind Kris Letang in that department. It was a strong showing for the former 46-goal scorer, but he will not be contending for his 3rd Stanley Cup this year.

Sergei Bobrovsky & Radko Gudas – FLORIDA PANTHERS

Bobrovsky and Gudas helped the Panthers to a second-place finish in the Central Division and clinched home-ice advantage for their opening-round series with their cross-state rivals in the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Bobrovsky was a free agent signing of the Flyers in the summer of 2010 and spent two seasons in Philadelphia before the lopsided trade that saw then-general manager Paul Holmgren ship the Russian netminder to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 2012 2nd-round pick (Anthony Stolarz), a 2012 4th-round pick (Taylor Leier), and a 2013 4th-round pick that was later traded by the Flyers.

Bobrovsky went on to win two Vezina Trophies and become not only the greatest goalie in Blue Jackets history but also one of the best goaltenders in the entire National Hockey League on top of it. He parlayed his success in Columbus into a 7-year, $70 million contract with the Florida Panthers in the summer of 2019.

Bobrovsky recorded a 19-8-2 record with a .906 save percentage and 2.91 GAA in 31 games in the regular season for Florida, and only went 1-2 in three playoff appearances with an abysmal .841 SV% and 5.33 GAA in the Panthers’ first-round loss in six games to the Lightning. Bobrovsky only started two of Florida’s games, with Chris Driedger and Spencer Knight each splitting the remaining four starts.

Gudas was one of thirteen defensemen the Panthers iced this season due to multiple injuries along the blueline. He signed with Florida in free agency after spending the 2019-20 season with the Washington Capitals following his trade from Philadelphia in exchange for fellow defenseman Matt Niskanen.

Gudas recorded two goals and nine assists in 54 regular-season contests. He contributed in the playoffs with his first career postseason goal and an assist, both coming in the Panthers’ Game 3 overtime victory. Gudas scored Florida’s second goal and assisted on Ryan Lomberg’s game-winner less than six minutes into the extra period.

Gudas played fairly well in the series but it wasn’t enough to stop the Lightning from sinking his Panthers in six games to advance to the second round to play the Central Division’s top seed in the Carolina Hurricanes.

Michael Raffl – WASHINGTON CAPITALS

Raffl, who the Flyers dealt away at the trade deadline after spending 7+ seasons with the club, scored a goal and notched two assists in 10 games with the Washington Capitals leading up to their first-round matchup against the Boston Bruins.

Raffl would appear in the Capitals’ first four playoff games before being healthy scratched by head coach Peter Laviolette for Game 5, where the Capitals lost the game 3-1 and were sent packing by the Bruins after dropping four straight games in the series after winning Game 1 in overtime.

Raffl did not score a single point and was a -4, but recorded nine shots on goal, had two takeaways and two blocked shots while averaging 13:11 of ice time, the most he’s earned in the playoffs in his career.

Raffl is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason and he will likely hit the open market on July 28th at the beginning of free agency after a dismal showing in the playoffs.