There are a number of ways to build a hockey team - you can build through acquisition, development, or vibes. The most cost-effective way of building a winner is to add key pieces through the draft and develop that talent. The Flyers are no different than any other NHL team; they have a reputation for making huge moves to take a step forward, but more often than not, they are drafting and developing.
The draft is often compared to playing the lottery; each pick is one entry, and you don't often win. Every year since 2021, when the Kraken joined the league, 224 teenage boys have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft - statistically, about half of them will play in the NHL. The highest chance of playing in the NHL comes with first-round picks, with nearly 89% playing at least one game on NHL ice, and decreases to just 25% of seventh-round picks.
So, more often than not, the pick isn't going to have the impact on the ice that their scouting reports promised. It's no one's fault, it's just the way of the game. There are no bad players selected in the draft; each one of them is in the top 1% of all hockey players globally, but some picks can set a team back for years. Here are three that did so for the Flyers.
German Rubtsov
The Philadelphia Flyers selected German Rubtsov 22nd overall in the 2016 draft. This was the year of Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine, and Pierre-Luc Dubois; they were the projected top three and went in that order. The Flyers had the 18th overall pick, and after seeing names like Matthew Tkachuk, Mikhail Sergachev, and Charlie McAvoy get drafted, General Manager Ron Hextall decided to trade the 18th pick to Winnipeg in exchange for the 22nd pick.
There wasn't much of a difference in the talent available at 18 than at 22, but the pick of German Rubtsov was baffling. He played 14 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the 2018-19 season, and 42 in the 2019-20 season for a total of 8 AHL goals and 23 points. His NHL stint was a very quick four games, and he had zero points.
The Flyers would later pick up Kieffer Bellows, who was drafted at 19 just ahead of Rubtsov, on waivers, only to waive him themselves two months later. Players selected after Rubtsov that would have had an immediate, positive impact on the Flyers include Adam Fox, Samuel Girard, Alex DeBrincat, Tage Thompson, and Jordan Kyrou.
Nolan Patrick
The selection of Nolan Patrick in the 2017 draft has been litigated to death. Yes, it was the best pick at the moment it happened. Yes, it made sense. Hextall didn't do anything nuts; he picked the obvious guy. Everything would have been completely fine if having corporeal form weren't such a burden. I am the number one Nolan Patrick defender, but he undeniably belongs on this list.
Nolan Patrick was only able to play in 203 NHL games for the Flyers and 25 for the Vegas Golden Knights. He had 33 total goals and 79 points. All three players picked after him - Miro Heiskanen, Cale Makar, and Elias Pettersson - have played in over 350 NHL games each and have over 280 points.
Pettersson won the Calder Trophy in 2019 and has been a star in Vancouver. Heiskanen holds the record for most points in a season by a Dallas Stars defenseman and has multiple deep playoff runs. Makar is the best of the bunch with a cabinet full of awards: Calder Memorial Trophy for rookie of the year in 2020, Stanley Cup victory and subsequent Conn Smythe award in 2022, and a two-time Norris Trophy winner in 2022 and 2025. The Flyers could have had any one of them.
Jay O'Brien
After nailing the pick with Joel Farabee at 14 in the 2018 draft, Hextall lost his mind and selected Jay O'Brien straight from high school with the 19th overall pick. This wasn't a particularly deep draft, and this pick still surprised everyone. O'Brien wasn't projected to go in the first round, and with players like K'Andre Miller, Rasmus Sandin, and even Kirill Marchenko still on the board, it was a befuddling pick.
O'Brien would not play a single NHL game. He was left unsigned by the Flyers, and after being sidelined with injuries during a season with the Toronto Marlies, he has not yet played a professional hockey game.
Honorable mention goes to Cutter Gauthier, who was able to net the Flyers a decent return when he refused to sign, therefore he did not stall the team's development. Get wrecked, Cutter.