Bill Barber, the best first-round draft pick in Flyers history, celebrates a goal in a Flyers alumni game with two players he would later go on to coach for the Flyers — Eric Desjardins and Luke Richardson. (Photo Courtesy of Kate Frese)
At last, the day Flyers fans have been eagerly awaiting has arrived. The NHL Draft is finally upon us, essentially the hockey fan's equivalent of Christmas morning. And with the second-overall pick, the Flyers have the opportunity to select their big-name center of the future in Nolan Patrick or Nico Hischier.
Since their inception of 1967, the Orange and Black have selected 44 players in the first round. Some have since embarked on fruitful Flyers careers, some are part of a burgeoning youth movement, some have moved on far too soon and some have entirely failed to make an impact in the NHL.
With that said, here's what a team of the best players at each position would look like.
Forwards:
Bill Barber–Jeff Carter–Claude Giroux*
Brian Propp–Ron Sutter–Justin Williams
Simon Gagne–Peter Forsberg–Travis Konecny
James van Riemsdyk–Mel Bridgman–Dainius Zubrus
Ken Linseman
Defense:
Behn Wilson–Ivan Provorov
Joni-Pitkanen–Samuel Morin
Luca Sbisa–Kerry Huffman
Kevin McCarthy
Goalies:
Brian Boucher
Maxime Ouellet
Notes:
As denoted by the asterisk, Claude Giroux was drafted as a right-winger in 2006 (22nd overall), so for the sake of argument, he'll be included here on the right wing — even though just about all of his significant Flyers contributions came as a center.
Slim pickings as far as goaltenders are concerned — of all the first-round choices in Flyers history, just two have been goalies.
Of the aforementioned 44 first-rounders, centers and defensemen have comprised the bulk of choices, with 13 apiece. Nine have been selected as right-wingers, while seven left wingers were chosen.
There may be some recency bias in the defenseman — after all, Ivan Provorov has played just one season as a Flyer, while Samuel Morin appeared in one game at the end of the 2016-17 season — but they represent for the Flyers' blue line of the future, and could very well climb higher on the list. Besides, are names like Darren Rumble and Steve Smith worthy of inclusion?
van Riemsdyk, Bridgman and Zubrus on the fourth line is, by no means, an indictment of their respective abilities. Bridgman was known as a player who was strong on both ends of the ice, while 'JvR' ranking higher than the three left wingers in front of him would be flat-out wrong.
Nine players on the list — Barber, Sutter, Forsberg, van Riemsdyk, Bridgman, Linseman, Pitkanen, Provorov and Wilson — were top-10 picks. The Flyers have had 17 top-10 picks, and, to date, Bridgman remains their only first-overall pick.
It really is astounding how many of those players were given up on pretty early. While players such as Barber, Giroux and Gagne have enjoyed lengthy and productive careers with the Orange and Black, other players like Williams, McCarthy and Zubrus were productive long after being dealt, and Forsberg established himself as one of the best players in the league well before his return in 2005-06. Carter, Sbisa and Pitkanen were part of deals to immediately bolster the team, but the Carter deal continues to be a source of frustration for Flyers fans six years after the fact.
Two Flyers first-round picks, Barber and Forsberg, are members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Barber and Propp, additionally, are members of the Flyers Hall of Fame.
