Heading into the 2017 NHL Draft, the Flyers prospect pool was in a rather strong place. It was among one of the top groups in the league, and each position was loaded with depth. They didn't have that elite-caliber player, but the system was in good hands. Add in the number two pick in the draft, and the Flyers were poised to add another potential star.
Throughout the year, many scouts believed that Nolan Patrick would be the top pick in the draft. He and Nico Hischier were the two big names to watch. Patrick did deal with injuries throughout his draft year, notably a misdiagnosed double sports hernia injury that limited him to 33 games. Still, he was expected to hear his name called rather early.
So when the Devils came up to the podium and selected Hischier, the Flyers unsurprisingly took Patrick. And it wasn't a bad pick at the time. Patrick had 92 goals and 205 points in 163 games with the Brandon Wheat Kings. The Flyers were even looked at as having the best prospect pool in the league the following year after Patrick's addition.
Taking him wasn't a shock or the wrong decision, at least at the time. It's what happened after that has Flyers fans wondering what could have been.
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Patrick's NHL career never truly had time to take off. His first two seasons showed promise, posting 30+ points in back-to-back years. He wasn't flashing superstar potential yet, but the signs were there that he could become a solid top-six contributor. That was until the migraine disorder came in the 2019 offseason. Patrick would miss well over a year of crucial development time. He returned for the 2020 season, but the damage had been done.
He struggled mightily and was demoted to the fourth line. His offense practically dried up completely, which was especially concerning when he was only averaging two fewer minutes than in his second season. The Flyers decided to cut ties the following summer, shipping Patrick to the Nashville Predators for Ryan Ellis. Patrick was then flipped to the Vegas Golden Knights.
To make matters worse, the two players taken directly after Patrick have become superstars in the league. Miro Heiskanen didn't debut until the year after his draft, but he became an immediate contributor on the Stars' blueline. He's broken out in recent years, posting a career-high 73 points in 2022-23. But more than that, he has become a franchise defenseman in Dallas. He hasn't taken home that elusive Norris Trophy yet, but his time will come.
Cale Makar was selected by the Avalanche after Heiskanen, and that might be the one that hurts the most. You want to talk about a franchise defenseman? Makar is that and more. He is easily one of the best defensemen in the league. He's won the Calder in his rookie season, the Norris twice, and is a Stanley Cup Champion. Not to mention setting records for most goals, assists, and points by a defenseman in the 2024-25 season.
The Flyers unknowingly passed on a position that they have spent years trying to find. Travis Sanheim has emerged as a top defenseman, but things could have been very different if the Flyers landed one of Heiskanen or Makar.
Unfortunately, it gets worse when you look toward the second round.
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Imagine what it would be like to have a winger who routinely scores 40 goals and posts at least 80 points every season. The Flyers would kill to have a contributor like that. Well, they could've when Jason Robertson was taken four picks after Philadelphia drafted Isaac Ratcliffe.
This might look even worse than the Patrick pick. Ratcliffe never established himself as an NHL player and wasn't a large contributor in the AHL either. He had a 10-game stint with the Flyers in 2021-22 where he did score his first career goal and added three assists. He was traded the following season, bounced around the AHL, and will play in the ICEHL, a professional league in Central Europe, next season.
Meanwhile, Robertson has been a star for Dallas, which landed two franchise cornerstones in 2017 at the Flyers' expense. He broke out with 109 points in 2022-23, which was somehow sixth in the league. It didn't help that Connor McDavid blew everyone out of the water with 153 points that year. Having a player like that on the Flyers could've changed everything.
Every franchise can look back and have regrets about who they drafted. But what makes matters worse here for the Flyers is how closely these decisions came together. And how perfectly the players selected afterward would've addressed needs that still haunt the team today.
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