Ten Best Trades in Flyers History

No. 5 — Flyers acquire Rod the Bod

The St. Louis Blues lost Scott Stevens to the Devils in 1991 and needed a defender. Looking around the league, the Blues wanted Flyers defender Murray Baron, a young defender. But a young defender with just 83 games under his belt wouldn’t be enough. Ron Sutter, an aging veteran of the Flyers 80s teams was also desired to help get the Blues over the hump. In return, the Flyers received centers Rod Brind’Amour and Dan Quinn.

Let’s just forget about Quinn. He’s a bottom line depth piece.

Brind’amour would spend nine seasons in Philly, scoring 235 goals; 100 more than Sutter did in his nine years in Philly. While teams would focus on the dominance that was Eric Lindros, Brind’amour flourished on the second line. He was everything a Flyers fan would want in a player. He hustled, he scored, he fought. He did all the little things you want. He had a magic ability to win faceoffs and make plays happen. He may not have been the best player on the team, but he was always involved in the play someone.

Baron enjoyed a 15 year career, with seven in St. Louis. He would be a capable, but not stellar defender. Meanwhile Sutter would play 10 more seasons.

Brind’amour would be one of the major cogs on the Flyers throughout the 90s. When traded to Carolina, he would bring the Stanley Cup to Raleigh. But during his time in Philly, he was the man.

No. 4 — The Son of Mr. Hockey comes to Philly

Sometimes, it must be hard to be the son of a hall of fame player. I mean, can you imagine being Michael Jordan’s kid? Gordie Howe was to hockey what Jordan was to basketball. He was the best. It might be hard to be Gordie’s kid, right?

Well, for Mark Howe, that didn’t seem to be much of a problem. While he didn’t have the scoring touch his dad did, he became one of the premier defenders in the league in the 1980s.

Recovering from a freak injury where he was basically impaled by a pole from a net, the Whalers began to lose faith in him. They looked for a team that would be willing to take him on. They found a willing suitor in Philadelphia. The Flyers gave up a first and third round pick in 1983 as well as young winger Greg Adams and center Ken Linseman.

Adams was nothing more than a depth piece. Linseman was one of the Flyers in the early 80s that was an heir to the Broad Street Bully Legacy. He would be immediately swapped to the Oilers where he would win a championship ring.

Howe became the backbone of the Flyers defense in the 1980s. Paired up with Brad McCrimmon, they formed a solid defense that helped propel a young group of Flyers like Sutter, Brian Propp, and Rick Tocchet to the Stanley Cup to face off twice against the vaunted Oilers led by Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier.

Howe is probably the greatest defensive player who ever donned the Orange and Black. There is a reason his name hangs in the rafters. And while Linseman was a good player, the need for a player of Howe’s caliber was so much more. Much like the acquisition of Pronger, what Howe meant to the team at that time is immeasurable.

No. 3 Flyers trade for “The Chief”

The Bully Era was in full swing and the Flyers were looking to repeat as world champions. In 1974, they traded away Larry Wright, Al MacAdam and a first-round draft pick to the California Golden Seals to pick up Reggie Leach.

MacAdam would win the Masteron Trophy in 1980 and be a capable winger. Wright would play in only 108 total games, scoring 12 points; two of which were assists as a Flyer.

Leach would become a Flyers legend. Forming the BCL line with Bobby Clarke and Bill Barber, Leach exploded. He scored 45 goals in his first year as the Flyers repeated as Stanley Cup champs and 61 in his second. As the Flyers tried a threepeat, Leach would score 19 goals and 24 points in 16 games. He would be the only non-goaltender in NHL history to win the Conn Smythe Trophy in a losing effort as the Flyers were swept by Montreal. His 19 goals set a record, later matched by Jarri Kurri, for a playoff run.

Leach’s career was short, at 13 years, but he scored 306 goals in 606 games for the Flyers with 208 assists as well. He is a borderline player and one of the top scoring players of the late 70s. And the fact that the Flyers got him for next to nothing is incredible.

No 2 — Recchi Trade #2

The Montreal Canadiens had just won the Stanley Cup in 94 and were looking to reload. They started off the next season slow. They needed a spark. They looked at Philly and desired Mark Recchi. This makes sense because in the two previous seasons, he scored 93 goals. But the cost would be heavy.

As the Flyers were also slumping, they looked to jump start their team. They shipped off Recchi to Montreal for a package of John LeClair, Eric Desjardins, and Gilbert Dionne. As you know, Recchi would return to the Flyers in four short years, still at the top of his game.

But the Flyers got a big time boost. Dionne would play in 22 games in two seasons for the Flyers. So he’s not what you think about with this deal.

LeClair, who had scored 19 goals in the previous two seasons in Montreal, exploded when put on the top line with Lindros and rookie phenom Mikael Renberg. The three became known as the Legion of Doom and rampaged their way through the Eastern Conference.  He would notch three hat tricks that season as the Flyers went all the way to the Eastern Conference finals, falling in six games to New Jersey.

LeClair would become one of the top left wings in the NHL in the 90s and a borderline hall of famer. He spent 10 years in Philly, scoring 333 goals with 310 assists, and being a five time all star.

On defense, Desjardins became a star. Over the next 11 years, he would be the Flyers top defender, paired up with Chris Therien. He would eventually become the Flyers captain after it was stripped from Lindros. Desjardins is probably the best defender the Flyers had who is not named Mark Howe.

LeClair and Desjardins took a slumping team into the top of the conference with teammates Lindros and Brind’amour. Getting Recchi back a few years later made this trade even better. This trade helped form the core of what the 1990s Flyers would become. I almost ranked this as the best trade in history, however…………