- Jason Arnott
- Petr Sykora
- Scott Gomez
- Bobby Holik
- Brendan Shanahan
- Tommy Albelin
- Steve Sullivan
- Alexi Ponikarovsky
- Claude Lemieux
- Stephan Richer
- Mike Rupp
- Nathan Bastian
- Scott Wedgewood
- Scott Clemmensen (3 stints)
- Brian Rolston
- Anssi Salmela
- Alexander Mogilny
- Cam Janssen
- Chris Terreri
- Jim Dowd
- Vladimir Malakhov
- Krzysztof Oliwa
- Jay Leach
- Mark Fraser
That's a huge list! I would bet there is no other franchise that has a list this long from 1982 - now.
Add Pascal Rheaume. One other player that comes to mind. Was on the 03 cup team after coming over at the 2003 deadline. Ended up with the Rangers and then the Blues the next year, but signed with Albany of the AHL during the lockout, before playing 12 NHL games with us in 05-06.
That 05-06 team had A LOT of second stint Devils on it. Some of them were already a few years into their second stint like Albelin, who was on a PTO and wasn't signed until I think December? But hadn't played anywhere in the NHL since last playing for us in 03-04 before the lockout.
Just from that team, Malakhov, Mogilny, Oliwa, Albelin and Rheaume were all on their second stints as Devils. Maybe even someone else that I've forgotten?
- Jason Arnott
- Petr Sykora
- Scott Gomez
- Bobby Holik
- Brendan Shanahan
- Tommy Albelin
- Steve Sullivan
- Alexi Ponikarovsky
- Claude Lemieux
- Stephan Richer
- Mike Rupp
- Nathan Bastian
- Scott Wedgewood
- Scott Clemmensen (3 stints)
- Brian Rolston
- Anssi Salmela
- Alexander Mogilny
- Cam Janssen
- Chris Terreri
- Jim Dowd
- Vladimir Malakhov
- Krzysztof Oliwa
- Jay Leach
- Mark Fraser
That's a huge list! I would bet there is no other franchise that has a list this long from 1982 - now.
i think there may be more.... one broadcast mentioned the list a while back....some reason i remember it being 25 (there's 24 on the list in your post)
edit: posted before i saw bleed's post and rheaume ...so.....there's number 25
This is where most of this fanbase's negativity come from Bratt's talks too btw. It was literally setting up like that to a tee. Thank god Bratt's current gf/probably future wife is from NJ and probably gotten in his ear and told him to cut some of the shit
Yeah, I think Zach, along with Kovalchuk and maybe Clarkson to an extent? But mostly Zach (we didn't want Clarkson re-signed, neither the fanbase, nor Lou and Kovalchuk was an extremely unique situation in that he was already signed) probably was the first to start the fear of guys leaving. We went through that a lot, even with Cory Schneider after he was picked up, as the departures of all three of those players were still very recent when we acquired Cory. From a year before for Parise to just months before for Kovalchuk and Clarkson. I don't think Clarkson even belongs in this, as I think mutually he wasn't really wanted here after his contract ended in 2013.
And very weirdly, all 3 of those players who left in very short order, left to ''Go home''. Zach with the team from his home state in Minnesota, Clarkson to his home town team in Toronto and Kovalchuk to his home country.
I remember one thing before Zach signed with Minnesota to kind of refute the theory that he'd go home to play there (I never used this argument) was that Zach decided to go to college at North Dakota and not Minnesota. I have no idea if he ever had the opportunity to play for Minnesota in college or not or if he just chose North Dakota over Minnesota, but I remember at least one person bringing it up at the time.
Bratt is a little different, only because he just signed a one year deal last year, which was two years before pending UFA status. If Bratt had signed yet another one year deal this offseason, it would have been similar to Parise, though he would have been traded this offseason if he wouldn't extend long term. I had some fears about Bratt, but mostly because of how hard his agent was playing the last two negotiations. His extension was extremely painless this time and didn't even drag very far into the offseason. And not to mention, he also took a friendlier deal than we ever thought. A lot of talk was that it would be between $8-$9 million and I just remember almost everybody not wanting him at $9 million and many saying they didn't want him over $8 either, but I think we all thought it would come in over $8 million per.
Mark Fraser LOL. One scab I've talked about enough. One of the worst players I've ever seen get as many NHL games as he did.
He was loved by Lemaire and Johnny Mac. He quickly fell out of favor under DeBoer, as did his BFF Rod Pelley (who Lemaire also had an erection for) and was mostly a healthy scratch for the minute that he was here that season, as was Rod Pelley. I think they were both used in the Kurtis Foster trade. Kurtis Foster sucked, but he also wasn't one of the worst (non-goon) players to ever play here during that decade, like those two were. And he also had a brief point in his career where he wasn't that bad, before shattering his femur (I think?) on the boards several years earlier while trying to negate an icing.
There was a stretch during the 12-13 season where Mark Fraser actually led the league in plus/minus. I don't think he finished the season as the leader, but I remember this showcasing how plus/minus was not really valid when a terrible player like him was leading the league in that stat.
And then we signed Fraser to an AHL contract at some point in the 14-15 season. Then like a minute after DeBoer was fired, Fraser makes his way up to the NHL team, where he stayed for the remainder of the year. That was the last he ever played in the NHL.
Speaking of Pelley, he also returned to the Devils, but in an AHL only role. He wound up being the captain for the Albany Devils for a couple of years late in his career, but I don't think he ever got an NHL call up his second time around. He certainly never played another NHL regular season game for us after his first departure from the organization in 2011.
Yeah, I think Zach, along with Kovalchuk and maybe Clarkson to an extent? But mostly Zach (we didn't want Clarkson re-signed, neither the fanbase, nor Lou and Kovalchuk was an extremely unique situation in that he was already signed) probably was the first to start the fear of guys leaving. We went through that a lot, even with Cory Schneider after he was picked up, as the departures of all three of those players were still very recent when we acquired Cory. From a year before for Parise to just months before for Kovalchuk and Clarkson. I don't think Clarkson even belongs in this, as I think mutually he wasn't really wanted here after his contract ended in 2013.
And very weirdly, all 3 of those players who left in very short order, left to ''Go home''. Zach with the team from his home state in Minnesota, Clarkson to his home town team in Toronto and Kovalchuk to his home country.
I remember one thing before Zach signed with Minnesota to kind of refute the theory that he'd go home to play there (I never used this argument) was that Zach decided to go to college at North Dakota and not Minnesota. I have no idea if he ever had the opportunity to play for Minnesota in college or not or if he just chose North Dakota over Minnesota, but I remember at least one person bringing it up at the time.
Bratt is a little different, only because he just signed a one year deal last year, which was two years before pending UFA status. If Bratt had signed yet another one year deal this offseason, it would have been similar to Parise, though he would have been traded this offseason if he wouldn't extend long term. I had some fears about Bratt, but mostly because of how hard his agent was playing the last two negotiations. His extension was extremely painless this time and didn't even drag very far into the offseason. And not to mention, he also took a friendlier deal than we ever thought. A lot of talk was that it would be between $8-$9 million and I just remember almost everybody not wanting him at $9 million and many saying they didn't want him over $8 either, but I think we all thought it would come in over $8 million per.
Yeah, that's very fair. I think it's just more so the shit this fanbase/franchise has gone through so seeing Bratt go through it who was one of the biggest bright spots of our rebuild, you could argue the biggest bright spot since Hischier and Hughes were expected to be very good versus Bratt being a 6th rounder, it was a dick punch last year to see that 1 year deal.
Yeah, that's very fair. I think it's just more so the shit this fanbase/franchise has gone through so seeing Bratt go through it who was one of the biggest bright spots of our rebuild, you could argue the biggest bright spot since Hischier and Hughes were expected to be very good versus Bratt being a 6th rounder, it was a dick punch last year to see that 1 year deal.
I was kind of annoyed we didn't just give him the $8 million last offseason and just let Wood walk as an RFA instead.
In hindsight, I'm glad it worked out the way it did, because we wound up not even having to pay Bratt $8 million per on an 8 year deal after a 73 point/32 goal season. And Wood was also useful for the first couple of months of the season and at times during the playoffs. So everybody wins with the way it turned out.
It's one of those instances where I am happier with the way it turned than how I originally wanted it. I was extremely adamant about buying out Cory in the summer of 2019, but it worked out better that we did it the next year, so he's not on our books with his buyout for the 2024-2025 season like he would have been if we bought him out the year before.
Zach Parise was never gonna age well from his peak, his play style was always gonna cause late in his career + the game getting way faster. Him and Mike Richards were always two guys that I thought would fall off a cliff, I'll give Zach credit for lasting longer than Richards but it was getting a bit dark for him in Minnesota with that bad injury he had before he bounced back.
Many people actually pointed out his play style, almost as sort of a coping mechanism as to it being a silver lining that we didn't re-sign him. Because he would start dropping off soon.
And while he did play until at least just before his 39th birthday (maybe just before his 40th?) in the league, he was no longer a superstar after he left here. I don't think he hit 70 points again (he didn't play many full seasons though and may have hit 70 with more games played in one of those seasons) and only broke 30 goals one more time. Before his 2010 injury he was probably an elite player or close enough to elite that it wasn't worth nitpicking if he wasn't. 08-09 and 09-10 were almost definitely career years for him that he probably wasn't going to hit again. Zajac definitely didn't. Langenbrunner was old, but he hadn't had seasons like those two earlier in his career.
Zach could have had a couple more 30 goal seasons and 80 pointers if not for some of those injuries. The first being his torn meniscus (I think it was?) less than a month into the season after that.
Ryan Callahan was another Parise/Richards like player that gave out early. Obviously, Zach was considerably better than both of those players (despite a couple of Rangers fans insisting at one point that Callahan was on par with Parise lol), but they fell apart really early too. Mike Richards probably could have played a couple more years in the league (though not at a very high level) but his drug issues seemed to exacerbate his end.
Zach Parise was never gonna age well from his peak, his play style was always gonna cause late in his career + the game getting way faster. Him and Mike Richards were always two guys that I thought would fall off a cliff, I'll give Zach credit for lasting longer than Richards but it was getting a bit dark for him in Minnesota with that bad injury he had before he bounced back.
Parise would have been worse off if he played for the Flyers.
At least Parise missed time due to injury rather than play for a team that prided itself on warrior culture where guys played in the regular season despite injuries.
Mike Richards played 79 games in 2008-09, with the 3rd most ATOI on the Flyers, with TWO torn labrums.
The Flyers captain Mike Richards, who was just nominated as a finalist for the Selke award for the NHL, will need offseason surgery on a torn labrum in his right shoulder, according to GM Paul Holmgren.
Richards also needs surgery to repair his left shoulder. He will get the surgery on his left shoulder approxamatly two weeks after the right shoulder is finished. Total recovery is 10-12 weeks.
"I am not exactly sure when it happened to my left shoulder. One day it was a little bit sore and it just kept on getting more sore," Richards said today. I kind of checked it out early in the year. My right shoulder was kind of a similar situation. It really wasn't a certain game that I noticed it. I noticed both very early in the season just after training camp."
GM Paul Holmgren said Richards suffered the injury early in the season, underwent cortisone treatments to manage the pain and continued to play. He will need 8 to 12 weeks of rehab, Holmgren said.
"It’s been going on for a while," Holmgren said this morning. "We managed it during the course of the year but we knew at some point he was probably going to have surgery.
A long summer lies ahead for the captain, but, at least he is getting this done now and not right before training camp. Getting the surgery now means Richards should be ready to play come September.
"I'm having my right one done on Friday. Once I get my motion back and get a little bit of strength back I will have the left one done so I will just be able to do some things. I can't get them both done at the same time because then I wouldn't be able to do anything."
The guy played 25 minutes a game with this injury, let's question his leadership now, shall we? Gimme a break. Whoever bashes this guy about leadership, go into the locker room and talk to him, then tell me he isn't a leader.
Philadelphia Flyers captain Mike Richards, who was just nominated as a finalist for the Selke award for the NHL, will need offseason surgery on a torn labrum in his right shoulder, according to GM Paul Holmgren...
bleacherreport.com
That was after his 4th season when he was 24.
After 2010-11, there was surgery after playing with a torn wrist ligament all season. And then the trade to LA.
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren announced Tuesday that five players, including team captain Mike Richards, will undergo offseason surgery, while three others are being further evaluated to determine if surgery is a viable option.
Richards had been bothered by a torn wrist ligament since the beginning of the season, but still appeared in 81 regular season games and all 11 playoff contests.
"The medical opinion was that he could continue to play through it without damaging it any further, and take care of it at the end of the season," Holmgren said.
Holmgren added that the injury "has inhibited [Richard's] play, certain aspects of his play. I think it's affected his performance in the faceoff circle. I think it's affected his shot to some degree."
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren announced Tuesday that five players, including team captain Mike Richards, will undergo offseason surgery, while three others are bein…
www.poconorecord.com
Richards’ and Carter’s infamous “partying”, and the friction it caused with Laviolette, were seen as the cause of the trade. And that was denied by Holmgren.
Certainly Richards’ injury history, combined with a NTC/NMC that was kicking in 2012, was a solid reason to trade him. Richard would have had 8 years left on his deal starting in 2012-13 and would be 35 when it ended in 2019-20.
The “partying” rumors are pretty wild, if only for Laviolette’s “Dry Island”. He had reportedly had a white board where players wrote their numbers to pledge to stay sober for a month.
Richards and Carter reportedly failed to write their names on the board several times.
They weren’t the only non-dry Islanders and other players were shipped out or not retained as UFAs like
I don’t even know how to feel about this.
I mean, Gostisbehere was good for 3rd round pick, right?
oops.
How about the 2nd?
Kubina was a rental w/ 5 regular season GP and 1 playoff GP (out of 11). Fart noise.
So Toronto won?
Well they used that 1st with their own 2nd to trade for a guy w/ 119 AHL GP & 136 ECHL GP.
So the Ducks win, for their masterful 2011 Draft.
I only bring this up because I don’t believe Richards could play a whole season with two torn labrums and manage the pain with “cortisone treatments”. Cortisone doesn’t last that long and you can only have a limited number of shots in year. He would have very likely used painkillers.
And later a reporter said multiple Flyer teammates said they were abusing pain killers, and weren’t even particularly big drinkers.
From Crossing Broad:
“After [Richards and Carter] both left, we started hearing some things about why they were gone. And whether it had to do with excessive partying. And there was also a question that didn’t make my story, because it wasn’t to the level which we could say it definitively … it’s certainly accurate to say there were teammates of these guys who had believed that they were taking prescription painkillers in addition to drinking and partying. Now, were those painkillers prescribed due to injury? I’m sure they were– Carter had the broken foot and Richards had I’m sure other things going. So, I’m not about to say the guys were abusing drugs or anything like that. But I will say that there’s at least two teammates who were concerned that was the case.”
He also said that the Daily News was uncomfortable printing some of those details because they were unable to verify the claims, even though Gross felt they were at the heart of the Dry Island story:
“It was unfortunate that it didn’t get into the story. I kinda of thought that if you did have that in the story, it just made the whole thing sound a little more legit. Look, I knew it was legit, I knew what I reported was accurate. And there were people who were like ‘oh, we all know these guys drink but they don’t drink any more than this one or that one,’ and all of that seemed true. But what I think what was really instrumental in selling that story so-to-speak to the readers, was the idea of the Dry Island.”
Back in 2013, I had former Philly.com gossip columnist Dan Gross, who broke the Dry Island story, on the podcast, and he reprised comments he made on Puck Daddy Radio in 2011 that the real nut of the story involved prescription painkillers. Here’s what Gross told me : “After [Richards and...
www.crossingbroad.com
And finally, #NotAllNHLTeams are like this. The Flyers really had a ridiculous warrior culture where playing with injuries was absolutely fetishized. And I’m talking about the regular season.
When we signed Simmonds they reported on the laundry list of injuries he played with, while never missing more than 7 games a season.
Simmonds spent a lot of time on the Flyers' injury report this year with the notorious "lower body injury," but what people didn't know was that "lower body injury" meant "basically a skating torso." Simmonds broke his ankle on a Shayne Gostisbehere slapshot but played through it, saying per The Inquirer: "it wasn't weight-bearing on the bone, so you're still able to play with that."
He also suffered a tear in his pelvis area, which led to him pulling his groin in trying to temper the stress on that injury. On top of that, Simmonds lost six teeth after getting hit by a stick, and he tore ligaments in his right thumb. He missed seven games because of that injury, and played the other 75.
Add Pascal Rheaume. One other player that comes to mind. Was on the 03 cup team after coming over at the 2003 deadline. Ended up with the Rangers and then the Blues the next year, but signed with Albany of the AHL during the lockout, before playing 12 NHL games with us in 05-06.
That 05-06 team had A LOT of second stint Devils on it. Some of them were already a few years into their second stint like Albelin, who was on a PTO and wasn't signed until I think December? But hadn't played anywhere in the NHL since last playing for us in 03-04 before the lockout.
Just from that team, Malakhov, Mogilny, Oliwa, Albelin and Rheaume were all on their second stints as Devils. Maybe even someone else that I've forgotten?
Add Pascal Rheaume. One other player that comes to mind. Was on the 03 cup team after coming over at the 2003 deadline. Ended up with the Rangers and then the Blues the next year, but signed with Albany of the AHL during the lockout, before playing 12 NHL games with us in 05-06.
That 05-06 team had A LOT of second stint Devils on it. Some of them were already a few years into their second stint like Albelin, who was on a PTO and wasn't signed until I think December? But hadn't played anywhere in the NHL since last playing for us in 03-04 before the lockout.
Just from that team, Malakhov, Mogilny, Oliwa, Albelin and Rheaume were all on their second stints as Devils. Maybe even someone else that I've forgotten?
Good catch. I forgot all about that. I can vaguely remember him being a prospect for us with the River Rats in the mid 90’s and referring to him as “Manon’s brother”.
Another good one that’s forgotten about, mostly because he only left for a minute and he weirdly played exactly 0 regular season games between stints with us, because he was injured at the time of the trade and then the remainder of the regular season was cancelled roughly 3 weeks later.
He did wind up appearing in 7 playoff games for Carolina that summer.
Another good one that’s forgotten about, mostly because he only left for a minute and he weirdly played exactly 0 regular season games between stints with us, because he was injured at the time of the trade and then the remainder of the regular season was cancelled roughly 3 weeks later.
He did wind up appearing in 7 playoff games for Carolina that summer.
I believe part of the trade conditions had playoff games played. He was injured, and might comeback, but just in case the Canes sat him for the last few regular season games, we’d still get some compensation for like 3-4 playoff games played. Vaguely remembering rooting for them not to get swept so we got something back.
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