Ranking the top 10 trades in Flyers history

The clock is ticking closer toward Friday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline and the selling Flyers still have pieces in play to move.

While it remains to be seen whether general manager Chuck Fletcher will rock the boat and trade a major piece of the team’s core or not, over the years, the Flyers have participated in their fair share of blockbusters. They’ve also turned some minor hockey deals into shrewd business. In that vein, here are the top 10 trades in franchise history:

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After missing the playoffs in back-to-back years for the first time in franchise history, the Flyers shipped captain Ron Sutter and defenseman Murray Barron to St. Louis for Rod Brind’Amour and Dan Quinn. “Rod the Bod” blossomed into one of the top two-way centers in the NHL, making the All-Star team in 1992 and racking up 235 goals and 601 points over nine seasons with the organization. Brind’Amour also played a central role in helping the Flyers return to relevance, scoring a team-high 13 playoff goals as the team reached the Stanley Cup Final in 1996-97.

The Flyers made a major splash in 1992 by acquiring a young star and Stanley Cup champion in Mark Recchi, — along with Brian Benning and a first-round pick — from Pittsburgh in exchange for All-Stars Rick Tocchet and Kjell Samuelsson, goalie Ken Wregget, and a conditional third-rounder. Recchi would post two 100-point seasons during his first stint with the Flyers, averaging 1.31 points per game and setting a franchise record with 123 points in 1992-93.

In the summer of 2009, the Flyers made a landmark move for the league’s most imposing defenseman: Chris Pronger. To land the 34-year-old Pronger, a franchise-changing type of player, from Anaheim, the Flyers parted ways with two first-round picks, a promising young offensive player in Joffrey Lupul, and defenseman Lucas Sbisa. The early returns were great, as Pronger helped push the Flyers over the top and reach their first Stanley Cup Final in 12 years. While Pronger immediately delivered the leadership and toughness the Flyers were seeking, injuries, namely concussions, soon took a toll. He went on to play just 63 games after the Cup year.

When the Flyers acquired Reggie Leach from the California Golden Seals in 1974, he was a good player who had posted back-to-back 20-goal seasons. In Philly, he quickly elevated himself into a great player, exploding for 45 goals and winning a Stanley Cup in his first season with the team. The following year, the “Riverton Rifle” set a franchise record with 61 regular season goals and he would fire 306 times in all over eight seasons with the Orange and Black. Not a bad return for Al McAdam (two-time All-Star), Larry Wright (106 NHL games), Ron Chipperfield (83 NHL games), and George Pesut (92 NHL games).

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The greatest defenseman in Flyers history, Mark Howe didn’t actually begin his career in Philadelphia. Howe was acquired, along with a third-round pick, from the Hartford Whalers in 1982 for Greg Adams, Ken Linseman, a 1983 first-round pick (David Jensen), and a 1983 third-rounder (Leif Carlsson). While Linseman had a very good career, Howe became a Hall of Famer, playing on four All-Star teams, and finishing as the runner-up for the Norris Trophy on three occasions. Howe ranks first among defensemen in Flyers history in goals (138), assists (342), points (480), and plus-minus (plus-351).

The Flyers landed Rick MacLeish in a three-way deal involving the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs. Philadelphia dealt Bernie Parent and a second-round pick (Rick Kehoe) to the Leafs for Bruce Gamble and a first-rounder (Pierre Plante), and also acquired Rick MacLeish and Danny Schock from the Bruins. Finally, Boston landed Mike Walton from Toronto. MacLeish, who had yet to play in the NHL at that point, went on to become a franchise legend, playing a leading role in the back-to-back Stanley Cup teams between 1973-75 and scoring 50 goals and reaching 100 points in 1972-73. For his Flyers career, MacLeish averaged just under a point a game (0.94), while Parent ceremoniously returned three years later.

On June 23, 2011, the Flyers blew it all up, electing to trade two franchise cornerstones in Jeff Carter and Mike Richards in separate deals. The move came just a year after the team had reached the Stanley Cup Final and came as a complete shell shock to fans. First, the Flyers shipped Carter, who led the team in goals for three straight years, to Columbus for Jakub Voracek, a 2011 first-round pick (Sean Couturier), and a 2011 third (Nick Cousins). Later in the day, the Flyers jettisoned captain Mike Richards to Los Angeles, bringing back young players Brayden Schenn, Wayne Simmonds, and a 2012 second-round pick (later traded). The moves were done to clear cap space so the Flyers could “upgrade” at goaltender and sign (gulp) Ilya Bryzgalov. Carter soon reunited with Richards in L.A. where the two won the Stanley Cup the very next season. Meanwhile, the Flyers’ 48-year wait to hoist Lord Stanley goes on ...

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Trading a 26-year-old who racked up 230 points in his two full seasons with an organization is about as crazy a move as one could imagine. The Flyers did just that in 1995 when they flipped Recchi and a third-round pick to Montreal for John LeClair, Éric Desjardins, and Gilbert Dionne. The gamble paid off handsomely for the Flyers, as LeClair and Desjardins went on to have careers which have earned them spots in the team’s Hall of Fame. Beginning in 1995-96, LeClair went on to post five straight 40 goal seasons and three 50-goal campaigns, and notably formed one-third of the famed “Legion of Doom” line. Desjardins, meanwhile, developed into an All-Star defenseman. Recchi was good for the Canadiens, but he never eclipsed 80 points again until returning to Philly.

Bernie Parent’s first stint in Philadelphia was nothing spectacular, but his second was nothing short of legendary. After a season in the World Hockey Association with the Philadelphia Blazers, the Maple Leafs traded the rights to Parent and a second-round pick back to the Flyers in exchange for his former goalie partner Doug Favell and a first-rounder. Parent’s two-year run that followed is among the best ever by a goaltender, as he won back to back Vezina Trophies, back to back Conn Smythes, and led the Flyers to their only two Stanley Cups in franchise history. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984 and remains the best goalie in Flyers history by some margin.

One of the biggest trades in NHL history, the Flyers — and the New York Rangers — traded for teenage prodigy/manchild Eric Lindros at the 1992 draft. Ultimately, an arbitrator ruled the Flyers’ deal — Steve Duchesne, Peter Forsberg, Ron Hextall, Kerry Huffman, Mike Ricci, Chris Simon, their 1993 first-round pick, their 1994 first-round pick, and $15 million — with Quebec was binding and should take precedence. The move revitalized the dormant Flyers, as Lindros became one of the faces of the NHL and blossomed into a bona fide superstar. A never-before-seen combination of size and skill, Lindros was a force during a dominant eight-year run on Broad Street, which included six All-Star nods, the 1995 Hart Trophy, and a trip to the 1997 Stanley Cup Final. While he never brought a Stanley Cup to Philadelphia, partially due to injuries, including several well-documented concussions, Lindros mostly delivered on his promise as the “Next One” and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.

» READ MORE: How the 1992 blockbuster trade for Eric Lindros revitalized the Flyers