Fear not dear readers, we know there are 26 letters in the alphabet, hence here is the second part of the greatest Flyers in franchise history overview, beginning with M and moving through Z. It’s not quite as loaded as the first part was, but there are plenty of keepers. So here’s the second half.
M: Brad McCrimmon
The late Brad McCrimmon was a staple on the Flyers blueline during their two deep runs in the ’80s, losing both times to the Oilers. A 1979 first-round draft pick by the Bruins, McCrimmon was traded in June 1982 to Philadelphia in exchange for goaltender Pete Peeters. A sturdy, dependable, and tough defenseman with a bit of offensive punch, McCrimmon had 56 points in 1985-86, scoring 13 times. Meanwhile, he was instrumental in helping the Flyers keep their blueline solid alongside the likes of Mark Howe and Doug Crossman. McCrimmon’s last game as a Flyer was Game 7 in 1987 against the Oilers before he was dealt that summer to Calgary for a first-round and third-round pick. In 367 regular season games, McCrimmon had 35 goals and 187 points.
McCrimmon picked up in Calgary where he left off in Philadelphia, being a great complement to Al MacInnis on the Flames backend. In 1989, McCrimmon and the Flames defeated Montreal for their lone Stanley Cup. He also became team captain after Lanny McDonald retired following the Cup win. He concluded his career in Detroit. Tragically, McCrimmon was a coach for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League when, on Sept. 7, 2011, the team’s plane crashed, killing McCrimmon and 44 others onboard. He was 52.
N: Simon Nolet
Simon Nolet was part of the Flyers’ first championship in his seventh season with the club. The right winger was a member of the franchise’s first year as a team, and scored 22 goals to go with the the same number of assists in 1969-70. His high in goals as a Flyer was 23 in 1971-72. Aside from winning the Cup, Nolet’s biggest claim to fame might be he was picked up by two clubs in their respective expansion drafts: first with Philadelphia, and then later Kansas City in June 1974 when the Scouts selected him for their first season. Nolet had 93 goals and 108 helpers for 201 points in 358 regular season games as a Flyer.
O: Joel Otto
With only six members of the “O” club, it’s rather slim pickings. However, center Joel Otto provided a steadying presence down the middle for Philadelphia over three seasons in the ’90s. Built like a refrigerator at 6’4″ and 220 pounds, Otto was good for roughly 50 points in his prime with Calgary but managed 41 points for the Flyers in his first year with them (1995-96). His production tailed off slightly in year two before dropping off completely in his final NHL season. Otto finished his regular season tenure with the Flyers playing 213 games, scoring 28 goals and adding 52 assists for 80 points.
P: Brian Propp, Bernie Parent
Hard to argue with either of these players. Propp — with his odd little goal salute — was a sniper the Flyers relied on throughout the 1980s when a division title was the norm and a trip to at least the semi-finals was the bare minimum. Propp scored less than 30 goals twice as a member of the Flyers, one of them being the season he was traded to Boston during the 1989-90 season. A four-time 40-goal scorer, Propp ended his span with the Flyers potting 369 goals to go with 479 assists for 848 points in 790 games. He was just as efficient in the playoffs, scoring 52 goals in 114 games.
Bernie Parent
The late Bernie Parent was one of the main reasons two Stanley Cup banners hang in the rafters of Xfinity Mobile Arena. Parent had two stints with the Flyers, the first one being in the early expansion days where he was over .920 in save percentage three of the first four seasons. After being traded to Toronto — and then having a short stint with the World Hockey Association’s Philadelphia Blazers — Parent returned to the fold, and had as solid a season as you will ever see: a .932 save percentage, a comically low 1.89 goals-against average, and playing 73 games! He dipped down to a 2.04 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage the following season, but that excellence resulted in a second consecutive Stanley Cup ring.
Like Propp, Parent remained a vital face of the Flyers after his playing days, participating in a variety of activities. He was also remembered for playing in the 2011 Alumni Game outdoors in Philadelphia against the Rangers, lacing up the skates at 68 years young. Parent passed away on Sept. 21, 2025. He was 80. The Flyers used Parent’s memory in the locker room this past year, giving the best player after each win a Parent-like mask to wear.
Q: Dan Quinn
Like Gary Inness, Dan Quinn is also the best and worst of the “Q” lot. Yes, it’s just him and him alone. Quinn had two seasons with Philadelphia, the first coming after being part of a big trade that saw Quinn and Rod Brind’Amour head to Philadelphia for Murray Baron and Ron Sutter. Quinn played 67 games for the Flyers in 1991-92, registering 11 goals to go with 26 assists. After that lone season, the journeyman Quinn was headed to Minnesota, then Ottawa, then a stop in the Swiss league, then Los Angeles, then another stop in Switzerland, Detroit of the International Hockey League, Ottawa, and then, once again, Philadelphia for the remainder of the 1995-96 season. The second stint was a bit more productive, with 21 points in 35 games. In 102 games, Quinn averaged over half-a-point each game (18 goals, 40 assists). Following 16 games with Pittsburgh in 1996-97, Quinn retired.
R: Mark Recchi
Mark Recchi didn’t have the size or dominance like John LeClair and Eric Lindros. But he knew how to make plays that ended up in goals far more often than not. Recchi — who started his NHL career in 1988-89 with Pittsburgh — had two stints with Philadelphia. The first came after a blockbuster that saw current Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet, defenseman Kjell Samuelsson, and goalie Ken Wregget head across the state to the Penguins in exchange for Recchi, a first-round pick in 1992, and defender Brian Benning. Recchi had 27 points in his first 22 games with Philadelphia to close out 1991-92. The following season he was lights out, putting up 123 points and then 107 the following year (including 53 and 40 goals, respectively).
Recchi arrived in a big trade, and left in a big trade, seeing himself head to Montreal in exchange for John LeClair and Eric Desjardins. Four seasons later, Montreal dealt him back to Philadelphia. While a bit longer in the tooth, Recchi had 91 points in 1999-00 before those high-end totals started to wane a bit. However, he still had four 20-goal seasons in his five-year encore with the Flyers. The three-time Cup winner (Penguins, Canes, Bruins) played 602 regular season games in Philadelphia and had 627 points in those contests.
S: Travis Sanheim
Travis Sanheim appeared to be a good, but not great, defenseman for the Flyers in the early part of his career. He was often playing second fiddle to Ivan Provorov, munching up minutes but never really establishing himself as a stud blueliner. However, once Provorov headed off to Columbus, Sanheim — who had a trade nixed to the Blues as Torey Krug exercised his option not to be moved — emerged as a revelation. He began eating up a lot more time, becoming far more of a shutdown defenseman and ending up on Team Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. An Olympic appearance earlier this year followed.
He’ll never be mistaken for Cale Makar or Quinn Hughes in terms of offensive output, but Sanheim looks like a great piece for the Flyers moving forward. In 660 regular season games, Sanheim has 250 points, including 65 goals. He was also integral to the Flyers’ playoff success, playing hard minutes against the best the opposition had to offer. Sanheim would’ve been a huge loss to the Flyers had that trade with St. Louis moved forward.
R: Rick Tocchet
Like Recchi and Gagne, current Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet had a return engagement with Philadelphia after his impressive initial run. A sixth-round pick in 1983, Tocchet was a player who originally could contribute sporadically, but was far more impressive being an enforcer. Tough to play against, Tocchet’s offensive upside began to appear in 1986-87 where he scored 21 goals. The following two seasons he potted 76 combined, including 45 in 1988-89.
After three straight seasons of missing the playoffs, Tocchet was sent to Pittsburgh in the deal that sent Recchi to the Flyers. He won a cup with the Penguins, then had stops in Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, and Phoenix before returning to Broad Street. The second chapter was injury-riddled, with Tocchet playing just 90 games in three seasons. Nonetheless, in his time with the Flyers, he had 508 points in 621 regular season games, including 232 goals. Hopefully he ends up with his name on the Cup a second time while the Flyers head coach. Time will tell.
U: R.J. Umberger
Nothing against Scottie Upshall, but it was between him and Umberger. Umberger scored 20 goals in his first season with the Flyers. However, he caught fire in the 2007-08 playoffs. After scoring 13 goals in 74 games that year, he scored 10 goals in 17 games. He was traded that summer to Columbus in a trade that primarily centered around picks. He returned to Philadelphia in a trade that had some scratching their heads as Scott Hartnell headed off to Ohio. In 106 games over his final two seasons, Umberger had just 11 goals. The trade was seen as a huge win for Columbus, although Umberger’s contract at the time was two seasons shorter than Hartnell’s. The forward had 60 goals in 334 regular season tilts.
V: Jakub Voracek
A perfect piece for Claude Giroux to strut his stuff, Jakub Voracek was part of the package that Columbus returned to the Flyers when the team shipped out Jeff Carter. Voracek and Sean Couturier (the first-round pick Columbus included) turned out to be good players at the very least. But Voracek and Giroux seemed to find synergy together, especially on the power play. Six 20-goal seasons. Two 80-plus point seasons. And a style of play that took no prisoners despite rarely dropping the gloves or throwing huge checks.
Voracek played 727 games in the regular season for Philadelphia, and had 604 points in that time. He also had 177 goals with the club before he was sent back to Columbus in exchange for forward Cam Atkinson.
W: Joe Watson
Joe Watson played alongside his brother Jim Watson for a time with the Flyers. A member of the original expansion team, Watson was a stay-at-home defenseman, averaging two or three goals a game. However, he wasn’t exactly the epitome of a Flyer given the era, often ending up with just 40 to 50 penalty minutes over a season. A guy like Dave Schultz often had 40 minutes in penalties after his first shift. But I digress. Watson was on both Stanley Cup teams and provided quality minutes even if the offensive production wasn’t dynamic by any stretch. Watson ended his career in Colorado, but remains around the club in various public gatherings the Flyers have each year. He played 746 games and scored 36 goals over that time. He also was two points shy of hitting the 200-point level with the Flyers.
X: Nothing to see here folks
Y: Cam York
If this was based on tossing sticks into the stands, York would stand head and shoulders over anyone mentioned thus far. York signed an economical, team-friendly extension for the next little while and seems to be fitting well into his tandem with friend Jamie Drysdale. York played hurt during parts of the playoffs but held his own through the two rounds. The defenseman didn’t have his highest point total in his career in 2025-26 (26), but he had his best plus/minus stat thus far in his career at +5.
The future appears to be bright for York if he remains in Philadelphia. Thus far, 23 goals and 103 points in 309 regular season games since having a cup of coffee back in 2020-21. He also has an overtime goal. You may remember it.
Z: Peter Zezel
Perhaps the strangest part is that there are 14 players in the team’s history that have surnames beginning with the last letter of the alphabet. While some might think Trevor Zegras will eventually take this accolade should he continue to develop into a fine center and offensive forward, for now the late Peter Zezel still holds rank. Zezel, a second-round pick in 1983 by Philadelphia, had an impressive rookie year with 61 points in 1984-85. He also had 33 goals in 1986-87 and 22 the next season. Although not the biggest Flyer on the club, Zezel had a feisty nature to his play and contributed in various ways.
Zezel scored 91 goals to go with 170 assists for 261 points in 303 games during the regular season. In the early part of the 1988-89 season, the Flyers sent Zezel to the Leafs in exchange for forward Mike Bullard. After battling a rare blood disorder since 2001, Zezel died in 2009. He was just 44 years old.
So there you have the Flyers best A to Z. For now.
