The one that got away.

[Diddly]

Which players do you wish the Flyers would have drafted that went after the the Flyers 1st round selection in a draft? It has to be someone they actually might have drafted (ex. dont pick Zetterberg in 1999 instead of Ouellete).

For me I remember really hoping they would take Domi in 2013 and they ended up taking Morin at 11 with Domi going to Ari at 12

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[dats81]

I always disliked the Luca Sbisa pick.

The problem at that time was that they needed D and there wasn't much left... Myers and Teubert were gone and the likes of Josi or Voynov where high risk picks because not enough data.


Laughton over Määta in 2012 is a more recent case that's definitely on my list.

 

[Delete99991]

Laughton over Maatta looked odd at the time and still does today.

I'm not a huge Maatta guy, but at the time they needed a guy like him in the system and Laughton had like a third round grade.

Bad pick

 

[Ghosts Beer]

To me, the one in recent times that got away was John Carlson.

He fell right into the Flyers lap, and Holmgren traded the pick for Steve Eminger.

I will never, ever, ever get over that.

 

[Protest]

Jagr. No other answer than Jagr.

 

[Curufinwe]

It's funny to think that the Flyers could have taken Getzlaf and Perry instead Carter and Richards.

But the one that got away for me is definitely Subban who went two spots after the Flyers took Kevin Marshall in 2017.

 

[Van Buren Boy]

Downie for me. We could of had James Neal, ME Vlasic, Paul Stastny

 

[Richards18Forever]

John carlson

 

[DrinkFightFlyers]

Jagr. No other answer than Jagr.

Yeah that's pretty much the only answer there is to this question. I have a book called 100 things Flyers fans should know and do before they die and it talks about that draft. There was still a fear of Eastern European guys with some teams. Seems as though the Flyers thought Jagr was a better player but didn't want to risk him not coming over or going back or whatever the case may have been.

 

[DrinkFightFlyers]

Not only would picking Jagr have reshaped this team (probably would have wound up keeping Forsberg too), but it would have prevented the Pens from winning those back to backs and they might not even exist now! Think about that! Imagine a world where Peter Forsberg in his prime is centering Jaromir Jagr in his prime and the Penguins moved to Vegas in 1995!

 

[Ghosts Beer]

I know before the '90 draft, Clarke traveled to Europe to scout Jagr and called Jagr the best player in the draft. But as luck would have it the Flyers fired Clarke two months before the draft, and in an ironic twist Russ Farwell drafted Ricci for his alleged Clarke-like captain skills.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

Let's just remember that Mike Ricci was a hell of a player and would have been our captain. Ricci and Forsberg would have been a hell of a one-two punch. It's not like we lost our minds and made a terrible pick - it was a good pick and a sensible pick. Let's also remember that ****ing Jagr actually did play for those suckholes and win those Cups.

I understand the spirit of this thread and the Jagr answers, but Ricci is my favorite draft pick of all time and I want to stand up for him a little. I also want to feel like I didn't waste $185 on that Ricci sweater in the summer of 1990.

 

[orangey]

PK Subban instead of Marshall.

 

[Embiid]

This is a painful thread....

Carlson honestly was one of the more irritating ones in recent memory because at the time I thought it to be an idiotic move by Holmgren. I remember his comments about why he did it and it made my blood boil. Another case of being impatient which marred Holmgren's career even though when he first got the GM job him and Snider said they weren't going to trade away their future (picks, young players etc.)

It kind of started when they had to break up the party boys...Upshall was the first domino when he not only traded a good young player but started tacking on draft picks to deals like they were effin tic tacs. I mean when they had Richards, Carter, Lupul, Upshall, Umberger, Hartnell...they had such a bright future. Timonen was also in his prime. Holmgren started off good...then in between started effin up with trading away the future for short term fixes..then redeemed himself with the Carter and Richards trades...and then with Bryz and thereafter the wheels totally fell off even though he stemmed some of the bleeding by finally keeping our picks and drafting much needed D men to develop...

 

[BrindamoursNose]

PK Subban instead of Marshall.

I want to die

 

[Embiid]

Let's just remember that Mike Ricci was a hell of a player and would have been our captain. Ricci and Forsberg would have been a hell of a one-two punch. It's not like we lost our minds and made a terrible pick - it was a good pick and a sensible pick. Let's also remember that ****ing Jagr actually did play for those suckholes and win those Cups.

I understand the spirit of this thread and the Jagr answers, but Ricci is my favorite draft pick of all time and I want to stand up for him a little. I also want to feel like I didn't waste $185 on that Ricci sweater in the summer of 1990.

Ricci and Forsberg would have been a great 1-2 punch. But man Ricci alone was tough because we needed scoring in those lean years. I wish the Flyers would have pushed Quebec to take Brind'Amour instead of Forsberg. We paid a heavy price for Lindros when you think about it...even Chris Simon was a great addition for Quebec.

 

[lancer247]

Ricci over Jagr
Franchise changing mistake

Ricci had a nice career but...Jagr

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

Ricci and Forsberg would have been a great 1-2 punch. But man Ricci alone was tough because we needed scoring in those lean years. I wish the Flyers would have pushed Quebec to take Brind'Amour instead of Forsberg. We paid a heavy price for Lindros when you think about it...even Chris Simon was a great addition for Quebec.

It was a heavy price. At the time, we needed everything, really - Ricci was perfect captain material, and Jagr was an unknown quantity, especially in the context of the time - it would have been a risky pick considering the slew of holes all through our organization (which is hard to believe, considering where we were just a year or two earlier). Hindsight really creates a lot of havoc with that draft pick, I think, but I was super pumped by it, and I wouldn't change it.

 

[Roo Mad Bro]

Laughton over Maatta looked odd at the time and still does today.

I'm not a huge Maatta guy, but at the time they needed a guy like him in the system and Laughton had like a third round grade.

Bad pick

Laughton had a late 1st or early 2nd rd grade at the time and was rising.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

Ricci over Jagr
Franchise changing mistake

Ricci had a nice career but...Jagr

It's only a "mistake" in hindsight - at the table, there was nothing wrong with the pick.

 

[lancer247]

Laughton over Maatta looked odd at the time and still does today.

I'm not a huge Maatta guy, but at the time they needed a guy like him in the system and Laughton had like a third round grade.

Bad pick

I don't want to defend the move but I think Laughton had a late first round grade.

 

[Rebels57]

Had the Flyers drafted Jagr, there are two possible outcomes.

1 - He is included in the trade for Lindros instead of Ricci; which would have made the trade impossibly painful in retrospect. Although Jagr had a good rookie season, it wasn't THAT much more impressive than Ricci's that the Flyers wouldn't have considered this.

2 - We keep him AND Forsberg and don't trade for Lindros. This would have dramatically altered the future of Hockey. New York ends up with Lindros. Do they win the Cup in 94 with Lindros and without the pieces they gave up for Lindros? What happens to Quebec? Do they ever become the force they were between 96 and 01 without Forsberg in the mix? Does Pittsburgh win back-to-back Cups in 91 and 92 without Jagr?

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

I don't want to defend the move but I think Laughton had a late first round grade.

He definitely did - I think he was considered possibly a "third line center" with some second-line upside, but he was considered a first-rounder. (Those two things sound incompatible lol but that's how I remember it.)

 

[FLYguy3911]

Drafting Maatta probably means no Gostisbehere. Flyers made out alright.

The Kevin Marshall pick is made worse by the fact they traded up to get him!

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

Had the Flyers drafted Jagr, there are two possible outcomes.

1 - He is included in the trade for Lindros instead of Ricci; which would have made the trade impossibly painful in retrospect. Although Jagr had a good rookie season, it wasn't THAT much more impressive than Ricci's that the Flyers wouldn't have considered this.

2 - We keep him AND Forsberg and don't trade for Lindros. This would have dramatically altered the future of Hockey. New York ends up with Lindros. Do they win the Cup in 94 with Lindros and without the pieces they gave up for Lindros? What happens to Quebec? Do they ever become the force they were between 96 and 01 without Forsberg in the mix? Does Pittsburgh win back-to-back Cups in 91 and 92 without Jagr?

It was huge, and I think everyone knew it at the time. The fact that they won in 1994 and we never did is still impossible for me to fathom - even setting aside the pain of it, I find it incredibly strange. Like, it just doesn't make sense. That ****ing goalkeeping - we just never could sort that out to the degree we needed to. And the fact that this has been an issue for so long, considering the first 20 years of this organization's history at the position, is also super ****ing weird.