Flyers Have Favorable History with Late 1st Round Picks

Recently, the Flyers acquired the 22nd overall pick of the first round in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft in the blockbuster three-team trade that ultimately sent defenseman Ivan Provorov to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Yes, it's a selection in the latter half of the top round. There are no guarantees the selection won't be part of a move up/ or move down trade scenario and no automatic assurances that the selection, if kept, will evolve into an NHL impact player.

Past results are no guarantee of future outcomes, as they say in the investment business. Nonetheless, this is worth noting: Over the course of the last quarter century, some of most favorable NHL Entry Draft picks the Flyers have made -- in fact, some of the best players to suit up for the orange and black no matter how they entered the organization -- were originally late first round picks.

Top 5 of the last 25 years, listed chronologically:

Simon Gagne (22nd overall, 1998): Drafted as a center, Gagne became one of the NHL's top all-around left wings of his era. As a Flyer, Gagne scored 264 regular season goals and 540 regular season points. In the postseason, he scored 32 goals and 47 points.

During Gagne's Flyers career, he compiled an extensive list of accomplishments: a member of NHL All-Rookie team in 1999-2000, two-time winner of the Bobby Clarke Trophy as team MVP (2005-06 and 2006-07), Pelle Lindbergh Award winner as the team's most improved player of the 2000-01 season, two-time NHL All-Star Game selection (2000-01, 2006-07), two-time 40-goal scorer (2005-06 and 2006-07) on a line with Peter Forsberg and Mike Knuble, Olympic participant for Team Canada in 2002 (gold medal) and 2006, three-time Toyota Cup winner as the Flyers player with the most three-star selections in the 2001-02, 2005-06 and 2006-07, and an important member of the 2009-10 team that reached the Stanley Cup Final as well as the 1999-2000 and 2003-04 squads that fell one win short of the Finals.

In the playoffs, Gagne scored three of the biggest goals in the post-2000 history of the Flyers' franchise. In 2004, Gagne tallied the overtime goal in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final to force a seventh and deciding game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. In 2010, Gagne played through injury to score the overtime goal in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals that started the Flyers historic comeback from a three-games-to-zero deficit against the Boston Bruins. In Game 7, the Flyers trailed 3-0 in the first period only to storm back and win, 4-3. Gagne capped it with the series-winning goal scored with 7:08 remaining in the third period.

Justin Williams (28th overall, 2000): The future "Mr. Game 7", three-time Stanley Cup winner and veteran of 1,264 regular season NHL games jumped directly to the NHL after the Flyers selected him with the 28th pick of a relatively weak 2000 Draft.

As a Flyer, Williams showed immediate promise but had miserable luck with injuries. For the Philadelphia portion of his career, Williams posted 43 goals, 72 assists and 115 penalty minutes in 226 regular season games. In 17 playoff games, he produced six points (all in 2003).

In need of help on the blueline, the Flyers traded Williams to the Carolina Hurricanes on January 20, 2004, in exchange for hard-nosed defenseman Danny Markov. Markov was an important part of the Flyers' run to Game 7 of the 2004 Eastern Conference Final but was a casualty to the newly implemented salary cap after a year-long lockout forced the cancellation of the 2004-05 season.

Mike Richards (24th overall, 2003): The 2003 NHL Entry Draft is widely regarded as one of the deepest in Draft history. The Flyers benefited greatly from that Draft, At the 11th overall spot, Philadelphia chose center/winger Jeff Carter. At 24th, Philly named center Mike Richards.

Over the course of his career in Philadelphia, Richards became the on-ice heart-and-soul of the club in the latter 2000s to early 2010s: an indispensable tone-setter on clubs that reached the Eastern Conference Final in 2007-08 and the Stanley Cup Final in 2009-10.

The best of Richards' six seasons with the Flyers from an individual standpoint was the 2008-09 campaign (30 goals, 50 assists 80 points in 79 games) when he averaged over a point-per-game and was the runner-up for the Selke Trophy as NHL defensive forward of the year, partially on the strength of seven power play goals. Richards was also outstanding in the 2010 playoffs (seven goals, 23 points in 23 games), helping spur the Flyers to within two wins of the Stanley Cups. He was especially dominant in the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals against the Montreal Canadiens.

Richards' Flyers career came to an end on June 23, 2011. He was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in a deal that brought young power forward Wayne Simmonds and the Kings' top forward prospect, Brayden Schenn, to Philadelphia.

Claude Giroux (22nd overall, 2006): What's there to say about the Flyers franchise's second-leading all-time point getter and longest-tenured captain over a 1,000-game Philadelphia career that hasn"t already been said?

The 2006 Entry Draft was not considered particularly strong at the time but it has collectively aged a notch better than most pundits predicted it would. With the possible exception of Brad Marchand going to Boston in the third round, there was no bigger future return on investment outside the top 10 picks than Giroux to Philly.

For a deep dive on Giroux's laundry list of accomplishments as a Flyer, check out the Claude Giroux Microsite the Flyers created in March of 2021.

Travis Konecny (24th overall, 2015): The Flyers traded up in the first round of the 2015 Entry Draft specifically in order to select Konecny with the latter of their two first-round picks that year (after Provorov at 7th overall). At the time, Konecny split time between wing and center but became a full-time right winger by the time he turned pro in 2016-17.

Konecny played in his first NHL All-Star Game in a breakout 2019-20 season. After a couple of down seasons. he had his best NHL season to date in 2022-23 despite missing 22 games due to injury: 31 goals, 30 assists, 61 points in 60 games.

Honorable Mentions

Steve Downie (29th overall, 2005): Sometimes a controversial -- and inconsistent -- player during his 434 game NHL career, Downie nevertheless had some strong moments in his career. He had two stints with the Flyers.

Downie often walked a fine line between controlled aggression and recklessly undisciplined play on the ice. Nevertheless, at his best, he became a tenacious forechecker, a pest who got under opponents' skin and a player with underrated puck skills.

The winger spent portions of the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons with the Flyers before he was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a deal that brought defenseman Mat Carle to Philadelphia. After stints with Tampa and the Colorado Avalanche, Downie returned to the Flyers in a Halloween 2013 trade for Max Talbot.

Unfortunately, Downie's return to the Flyers was marred by concussion problems, other injuries and a medical issue (the further deterioration of his hearing, requiring surgery) that may have played into generally subpar play. During the 2014 offseason, he departed the Flyers as an unrestricted free agent.

Scott Laughton (20th overall, 2012): The only Flyer with a letter on his sweater in 2022-23, Laughton emerged from a so-so overall 2012 NHL Draft crop to become a a valuable player in Philadelphia. A strong two-way forward, Laughton has become a versatile all-situations player who is comfortable either at center or left wing. He also emerged as a team leader; in fact, he's perhaps the most universally respected figure among his teammates in the current locker room. Opponents hate playing against him but would love to have him as a teammate.

Morgan Frost (27th overall, 2017): Frost's pro career got off to a topsy-turvy start after he was selected with one of the two first-round picks (the other being Joel Farabee at 14th overall in 2008) the Flyers acquired from the St. Louis Blues in the Brayden Schenn trade on the Draft floor at the 2017 NHL Draft. He missed virtually the entire 2020-21 season due to shoulder surgery and had his ups and downs in 2021-22 and the first two months of this past season.

However, starting in December shortly after being moved up in the lineup, Frost started to click. Over the final 56 games of the 2022-23 season, Frost led the Flyers in assists (24), total points (40) and even-strength points (36). He trailed only Owen Tippett and Konency (16 goals apiece) with 15 even strength goals in that span.

Flyers general manager Danny Briere, who worked one-on-one with Frost and was a source of encouragement in his earlier NHL days, believes the player has legitimately turned the corner. Veteran NHL pundit Craig Button recently echoed the same sentiment. Only time will tell in that regard, but Frost certainly seems to now be on the right path shortly after celebrating his 24th birthday.

Future NHLer Watch

Tyson Foerster (23rd overall, 2020): Foerster fully recovered in 2022-23 from a serious son Foerstershoulder injury that cost him most of the previous season. He led the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in overall scoring (48 points in 66 games in the regular season), potted 20 regular season goals and two in three playoff matches, played in the AHL All-Star Game and impressed during a late season recall to the Flyers (3g, 7 points in eight games).

The Misses

No team is infallible. Goalie Maxime Ouelett (22nd overall in 1999) debuted in the NHL at age 19 and was once ranked by the Hockey News as one of the NHL two best goalie prospects, but he did not pan out at the top level. Defenseman Jeff Woywitka (27th overall, 2001) later had a 278-game NHL career as a depth blueliner for St. Louis and Dallas but never played a game for the Flyers to Edmonton as a component of the Mike Comrie trade. The Flyers intially had high hopes for Russian center German Rubtsov (22nd overall, 2016) as a two-way NHL forward with top-six upside. Repeated injuries (most seriously two shoulder injuries and wrist surgery), developmental stagnation and an ultimate backslide limited him to just four NHL games.