June 23 is a significant date in modern Philadelphia Flyers history. For some reason, through the last 13 years, on that specific date on the calendar, an organization-altering transaction is made. Whether it is bad or good, the modern Flyers have done something that has changed their trajectory on this date.
All we have to explain it is some paranormal being that takes over the general manager at that time and forces them to do something — just something. Or, you know, it’s a date that is a week before free agency opens and (typically) after the Stanley Cup is awarded so teams are allowed to do stuff again. But that’s less fun.
The Flyers have done some good and cool things, and other terrible things. But how exactly do these transactions all stack up to one another? What if we ranked all eight of the significant transactions that happened on this date for the modern Flyers? Well, we did.
8) Signing Ilya Bryzgalov to a nine-year contract
Arguably the worst thing that has ever happened for the Flyers on this specific day is them committing long-term to wretched goaltender Ilya Brzygalov in the form of a nine-year, $51-million contract all the way back in 2011.
Of course, we all know the history. The Flyers really throw all their eggs in the Bryzgalov basket with Sergei Bobrovsky in the organization, and then trade the current Stanley Cup Finalist to the Columbus Blue Jackets just a year after they put pen to paper for this deal. And then, another year later, use the buyout-caused compliance buyout on Bryzgalov and are still paying the player to this day.
He didn’t even play 100 total games for Philadelphia, man.
7) Trading James van Riemsdyk to the Toronto Maple Leafs
This is the only other transaction that could compete with the Bryzgalov contract for the worst spot. The only reason we think it’s (slightly) better is because an actual player was brought back and it didn’t ruin an entire position of a team for a very long time.
On June 23, 2012, former second-overall pick James van Riemsdyk was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a one-for-one swap for defenseman Luke Schenn. This is just one of those trades that immediately separated the tradition section of the fan base from the more progressive one. Van Riemsdyk was a very solid winger, and Schenn was rushed to the NHL and was a big defenseman who just had insane gaffs on the ice for Toronto. It was almost an instant win for the Maple Leafs.
Van Riemsdyk would go on to play 413 games for Toronto and score 154 goals in their top-six forward group, while Schenn would play 213 games for the Flyers and ultimately be a depth defenseman. Considering that stretch post-trade was when the team really wanted to stretch out the current Claude Giroux-led core, they could’ve really used the goals and skill from the guy they traded away.
6) Trading Scott Hartnell to the Columbus Blue Jackets
Scott Hartnell is certainly a player that a lot of current fans grabbed onto as a favorite. He played an entertaining style and really embodied being a Flyer during his time here, and that earned him a big, six-year contract extension signed in August 2012 before what would’ve been his final season in Philadelphia before hitting unrestricted free agency. And, well, just after one season into that contract extension, Hartnell was sent to the Columbus Blue Jackets for R.J. Umberger and a fourth-round pick.
While the financial flexibility was sort of nice to have, and Hartnell’s deal would eventually be bought out by Columbus, the following seasons from the players really made the Flyers lose this trade. Hartnell would continue his production, scoring 28 goals and 60 points in his first year in Ohio, while Umberger earned a total of 15 points and would last just one more year with the Flyers.
It was a losing trade that kind of left a bad taste in your mouth.
5) Drafting Nolan Patrick second overall
It was 2017. The NHL Entry Draft was being hosted by the Flyers in Philadelphia and the team jumped from 13th overall all the way to 2nd overall. Wow. They must have gotten a game-changing type of player.
So much digital ink has been spilled on Nolan Patrick, so we won’t bore you, but it is just unfortunate that the player suffered from injuries and ultimately became exactly nothing for this team. It wasn’t a bad pick at the time, but obviously the superstars selected directly after Patrick is going to haunt us for a while. We can’t say it was as bad as some of the trades and contracts, but it was just ultimately a negative.
4) Trading Brayden Schenn to the St. Louis Blues
After the Flyers drafted Nolan Patrick, they made a splash to get some more first-round picks. With three years remaining on his deal, at 25 years old, center Brayden Schenn was sent to the St. Louis Blues for draft picks that would ultimately become Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee — two very solid players for the Flyers right now.
This is a tricky one to really think about, honestly. The Flyers probably shouldn’t have made this trade since Schenn has consistently been a fairly good top-six center for the Blues for the last seven years. But, the team would have moved on from him eventually and keeping him would just be trying to squeeze the most out of Giroux’s team while they weren’t all that good to begin with. Now, the team has two solid forwards who could both score more points than Schenn does this upcoming season.
Ultimately, this is a win and one of the few good moves the Flyers made on this day.
3) Trading Mike Richards to the Los Angeles Kings
Speaking of Brayden Schenn, in 2011, the Flyers sent then-star center Mike Richards to the Los Angeles Kings that comprised of then-prospects, Wayne Simmonds and Schenn, and a second-round pick that would then get sent to the Dallas Stars for Nicklas Grossmann. Woof.
Okay, so we can’t say that this was a bad trade. For a player that would go on to then win Stanley Cups (multiple) with the Kings, the Flyers received two young forwards who would extend a lot of the life of the current core, and then would get traded for players who are still on the team. And, with some more context, Richards had nine(!) more years left on his insane contract and a No-Move Clause was going to kick in the following year. If they were going to trade him at any point, the time was then and they kind of nailed the return.
It sucks to do a player dirty like that and just toss him away like nothing, but from a pure asset management point-of-view, it was a good trade (sadly).
2) Trading Jeff Carter to the Columbus Blue Jackets
On the same freakin’ day that the Flyers traded Richards, they sent fellow core center, Jeff Carter, off to the Columbus Blue Jackets. These two trades essentially formed what would be the next Flyers team, honestly.
For Carter, the Flyers received Jakub Voracek, a first-round pick that would become Sean Couturier, and a third-rounder that would be Nick Cousins.
So, to wrap it up in a nice bow, for two players who went on to then go and win somewhere else because that team had more top-end talent, the Flyers got Voracek, Simmonds, Schenn — who would then become Farabee and Frost– and Couturier. If any team had to move on from their current good players, that would be the ideal package, really; players who would then almost instantly replace them while being younger and cheaper. Plus, Couturier is arguably the best player of the whole bunch.
1) Matvei Michkov confirmed to be coming over two seasons early
We are fully accepting that this is recency bias but we do not care.
We don’t know what Matvei Michkov is in the NHL, yet. But, we know that he feels destined to be a superstar who could surpass the impact of any player we have mentioned previously. That is why he is at the top of this ranking — he is a superstar that really wants to be a Flyer and is even buying out his own KHL contract to do that.
Of course, the circumstances have been fairly lucky to make this happen, with the right management and team in place in Philadelphia, and SKA St. Petersburg understanding that the player probably wants to leave Russia and not be reminded of his recently deceased father. But, we can still be glad that this is happening and celebrate it as a massive win for us, personally.
It’s the best. There’s no departing player where you have to feel one way or another about him leaving and the prospects coming back. It’s a simple, one-way transaction where we get to enjoy a budding star on our hockey team earlier than we expected. It rocks.
