With development camp in the rear view mirror and the start of the preseason way, way too far ahead of us, it feels like a good time to take a little stroll down Flyers memory lane. Have a seat, get comfy, and join us on the journey from late-round pick to shutdown center.
It was February 5, 1998 and the Flyers were gearing up for another playoff run after being swept by Detroit in the Stanley Cup Finals the prior season. GM Bob Clarke decided to bring in a veteran presence and the Flyers sent a 5th round selection in the 1998 NHL draft to Vancouver for Mike Sillinger.
Sillinger, who holds the record for most times traded as a player (9), proved to be valuable for the Flyers scoring 22 points in 27 games.
But that wasn’t enough, and the Flyers were kicked out of the 1998 playoffs in only five games by Dominik Hašek and the Sabres.
Despite his hot start with the team, Mike Sillinger did not last long in Philadelphia. 25 games into 1998-99 season, he and Chris Gratton were shipped off to Tampa Bay in exchange for Mikael Renberg and Daymond Langkow. Daymond Langkow did well in Philadelphia, scoring 23, 50, and 54 points in his three seasons with the Flyers. In the 2001 off-season, the Flyers did what they did best: brought in a star player who was on the back nine of his career with the signing of Jeremy Roenick (JR was still productive though, so we’ll give them a pass). This left no spot on the team for Langkow, who was shipped off to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for a 2002 second round pick and a 2003 first round pick. The second rounder was used to move up to the fourth overall selection where the Flyers selected Joni Pitkanen.
The Coyotes, who finished second in their division during their 2001-02 campaign, were not able to build off that success and finished their 2002-03 season second from the bottom in the Pacific Division with a record of 31-35-11-5. Their first round draft pick, which they dealt to the Flyers, fell to the 11th overall selection.
With the 11th overall pick, the Flyers drafted Jeff Carter, a core member of the team for the better part of six seasons. Carter was essential post-lockout rebuild. He was a key member in the 2007-08 run to the Eastern Conference Finals and was one of the team’s best goal scorers throughout the late 2000’s.
Flyers GM Paul Holmgren made arguably the biggest moves of his career with the Flyers on June 23, 2011, when he shocked the entire city of Philadelphia by trading captain Mike Richards to the Los Angeles Kings and sending leading goal scorer Carter to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Fans were up in arms, wondering what had just happened. In return for Carter they received Jake Voracek, the eighth overall pick in the 2011 draft, and a third round pick in 2011.
With the eighth pick the Flyers drafted center Sean Couturier and that, my friends, is where our story concludes. The story of how a fifth round pick turned into Sean Couturier.
