Some general managers swing big. Ron Hextall preferred to lay down a bunt when a fastball was coming right down the middle of the plate. In the five drafts he oversaw, he drafted German Rubtsov, Nolan Patrick, and Jay O'Brien with three of the organization's first-round draft picks. Brutal.
Certainly, other general managers had swings and misses, but Hextall's whiffs were the most notable. Still, of the team's biggest draft pick busts, his selection failures were in the middle of the pack.
1. Bob Currier
Category | Statistic |
|---|---|
Draft Year | 1969 |
Pick Number | 6 |
NHL Games Played | 0 |
Position | Center, Right Wing |
The Flyers had Currier high on their draft board and took him 6th overall in the 1969 amateur draft. Currier allegedly had a knee injury the year of his draft, but it may or may not have impacted the reason he made it to the NHL.
A few picks later, the Flyers drafted Andre Dupont, but they more than made up for drafting Currier by picking Bobby Clarke in the second round with the 17th overall pick.
2. Ryan Sittler
Category | Statistic |
|---|---|
Draft Year | 1992 |
Pick Number | 7 |
NHL Games Played | 0 |
Position | Left Wing |
Ryan Sittler was the son of Hall of Fame player Darryl Sittler. Unfortunately, the young right winger was injury-prone and spent a lot of time in the ECHL and AHL. His NHL career was over before it started, and he eventually turned to substance abuse to numb the literal and metaphorical pain.
3. Jay O'Brien
Category | Statistic |
|---|---|
Draft Year | 2018 |
Pick Number | 19 |
NHL Games Played | 0 |
Position | Center |
Jay O'Brien peaked in high school. He never should have been a first-round draft pick, and was not projected to be one. By the time he was drafted by the Flyers in 2018, he was pushing 20. Unfortunately, the Flyers did not realize this until long after the fact. Ultimately, the team opted not to sign him and chose to get a compensatory second-round draft pick.
In 2023, he signed a one-year deal with the AHL's Toronto Marlies. Last July, he signed another deal with the Charlotte Checkers. He still has yet to play a professional game, though.
4. German Rubtsov
Category | Statistic |
|---|---|
Draft Year | 2016 |
Pick Number | 22 |
NHL Games Played | 4 |
Position | C |
Some things do not hold up to reason. Scouts liked Rubtsov and pegged him to go within the top 15 picks of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. There was nothing particularly special about him. He had average weight, average height, and below-average numbers for a first-round pick expected to go that high in the draft. He never even played against tough competition.
The most notable part about Rubtsov was that he was on the Russian U-18 roster that got the boot for taking a banned substance.
5. Dan Lucas
Category | Statistic |
|---|---|
Draft Year | 1978 |
Pick Number | 14 |
NHL Games Played | 6 |
Position | Right Wing |
In 1977, Lucas joined the Soo Greyhounds of the OMJHL and put up 182 points in 64 games. The numbers were incredibly impressive, but for context, he played on a line with Wayne Gretzky. As Gretzky had yet to take the NHL by storm, it was reasonable to think Lucas would be a no-brainer as the Flyers' 14th overall pick in 1978.
In the context of this list, he had the most NHL experience with a whopping six games and one point to his name. He played parts of three seasons in the AHL and retired in 1981.