The History of Trade is a mini-series going through each team’s best and worst trades of all time. Each team has their own history and some may cross over, but the series will try to stick to each team. This article will focus on the Philadelphia Flyers trade history, finding the best and worst of all time.
The Philadelphia Flyers have a long history since joining the NHL in 1967. The team has been known to make big trades, trying to get over their Stanley Cup hump. Some have worked out well for the team, but others haven’t fared the same. The Flyers trade history is long, but there are two that stick out the most.
Philadelphia Flyers Trade History: Best And Worst Trades Of All Time
Best Trade
This one is almost too easy to predict. Re-acquiring Bernie Parent after the 1972-73 season helped the Flyers do something that had not been done before. Parent was the biggest factor in the Flyers becoming the first expansion team to win the cup in 1974, and their back-to-back Stanley Cup championship in 1975. He took home the Conn Smythe Trophy as Playoff MVP in both years, and was a major reason they won those Cups.
The Trade
The Philadelphia Flyers traded Doug Favell and a first-round pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Bernie Parent and a second-round pick. The Flyers would turn that pick into Larry Goodenough, while the Leafs turned theirs into Bob Neely.
Traded Away
Favell spent six seasons with the Flyers before being traded to the Leafs. The Leafs had three veteran goaltenders at the time, but Favell would get a bulk of the playing time in his first season. He went 14-7-9 during the regular season but faltered in the playoffs, going 0-3-0 and giving up 10 goals.
It would only go downhill for Favell, struggling in 39 games the following season. He would finish with a 4.05 GAA, the worst of his career. He would only last three games in his third season, spending a long time on the injury list.
The Leafs would sell his NHL rights to the Colorado Rockies for the 1976-77 NHL season.
The Return
Parent had drafted by the Flyers when they entered the league in 1967. He would become the team’s number one goaltender, playing in 58 and 62 games for the Flyers during his second and third season. The team looked to improve their offense and traded away Parent during the 1970-71 season.
Parent was only with the Leafs for one season, jumping over to the WHA for the 1972-73 season. After leaving the team over a contract dispute, he sought a return to the NHL. He did not wish to return to the Leafs, however. His rights were traded back to the Flyers.
The next two seasons are considered the greatest of his career. In 1973-74, his first season back, Parent set NHL records for wins in a season (47) and shutouts in a season (12). He would also finish with a 1.89 GAA. Parent played 73 games in a schedule that consisted of 78. He would share the Vezina Trophy with Tony Esposito as both teams finished with the fewest goals against.
His goals-against average and save percentage dipped slightly, but Parent would still finish with 44 wins and 12 shutouts. He would win the Vezina Trophy for the second consecutive season.
His best work in both of those seasons, however, came in the playoffs.
1974 & 1975 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Parent was arguably the Flyers best player in both of their Stanley Cup runs. No game was bigger than the sixth and final game of the championship series against the Boston Bruins. Parent would face and stop all 30 shots the Bruins threw at him.
The Flyers would win their first Stanley Cup, while Parent would capture the first of his two consecutive Conn Smythe trophies. He helped the Flyers become the first of the 1967 expansion teams to win the championship. He finished the playoffs with a 12-5 record, a 2.02 GAA and a .933 SV%.
If possible, he got even better the following playoff season. He would once again earn a shutout in the clinching game, this time against the Buffalo Sabres. The record this time around was 10-5 with a 1.89 GAA and a .924 SV%.
Parent spent a total of 10 years with the Flyers organization. Appearing in 486 games, Parent amassed a record of 232-141-104. He holds the Flyers goaltending record of shutouts with 50. His 12 shutouts were the most in a single season for a Flyers goaltender. Parent is one of the best goaltenders to put on a Flyers uniform.
Worst Trade
There have unfortunately been many trades in Flyers history that have not worked out in the team’s favour. In the Flyers trade history, there are many that can be considered the worst the team has made. One of the worst trades the team has made involved a two-time Stanley Cup champion by the name of Patrick Sharp.
The Trade
On December 5, 2005, the Flyers would trade forwards Patrick Sharp and Eric Meloche to the Chicago Blackhawks. In exchange, they would receive Matt Ellison and a third-round draft pick.
Traded Away
Meloche was no big loss as he spent most of his career in the AHL. He would never play a game for the Blackhawks. Losing Patrick Sharp, however, would turn out to be huge.
Sharp played a total of 66 games for the Flyers between 2002-2005. He totalled 10 goals and five assists during that span of time. At the time, it would’ve been fair to say that Sharp wasn’t producing with the team.
He was shipped off to the Blackhawks, where he spent the rest of that season and nine more with the team. He reached the 30 goal mark four times and helped the Blackhawks capture the Stanley Cup in 2010 and 2013.
The Blackhawks and Flyers would face off in the Stanley Cup Final in 2010. Sharp played a key role in their eventual six-game defeat of the Flyers. He scored four goals and added two assists during the series.
In 2013, Sharp would score 10 goals during the playoffs. This was tops among all NHL players that playoff season.
Sharp would later spend two seasons with the Dallas Stars, scoring 28 goals and tallying 45 assists. He would sign with the Blackhawks again prior to the start of this season.
The Return
There is no good way to say that the return the Flyers received did not work out for them. The draft pick they received would be traded to the Montreal Canadiens, who drafted Ryan White with the pick.
Ellison would only play a total of seven games for the Flyers. He had one assist during that time. Most of his time was spent playing for the Philadelphia Phantoms of the AHL. He would tally 24 goals and 40 assists during his two seasons in the AHL.
His seven games with the Flyers were the last time Ellison would play in the NHL. The Flyers traded him to the Nashville Predators in 2007. He would sign a one-year contract in Latvia a year later and leave the league for good.
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