How teams like Flyers with several draft picks in top 50 fared

Seven of the top 50 picks in the 2025 belong to the Flyers, tying their franchise record in 1990. But three first-round picks in a year isn’t a rarity, at least not since 2006.

Apr 1, 2018; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Jake DeBrusk (74) skates past Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim (6) during the first period at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Derik Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Flyers are the team of the 2025 NHL Draft with seven selections in the top 50 picks. The hopes of a top pick were dashed during the lottery when the lottery balls went the direction of the New York Islanders, leaving the Flyers with the sixth overall selection. Over the course of the NHL’s history, with drafts going as far back as the early ’60s, the seven selections that high isn’t an NHL record. And it actually ties a franchise record.

1990: Lots of picks, some later swapped for Big E

In 1990, the Flyers entered the draft with seven selections in the top 50. But five of the seven picks were between the fortieth and the forty-seventh pick. Philadelphia’s highest pick that year (4th) was used to take Mike Ricci. The second round was where the team got busy with a few hits and a few clunkers: the late Chris Simon (25th). Mikael Renberg (40th), Terran Sandwith (42nd), Kimbi Daniels (44th), Bill Armstrong (46th), and Chris Therien (47th). Obvious Ricci, Simon, Renberg and Therien had rather lengthy NHL careers with Renberg and Therien making perhaps the most impact with the Flyers. Ricci would be part of the massive trade package (along with Simon) Philadelphia used to acquire Eric Lindros from the Nordiques.

Mikael Renberg, part of the Legion of Doom along with Lindros and John LeClair, scored 82 points his rookie season, one of six he spent with Philadelphia. The forward had 128 goals and another 168 helpers in 366 regular season games. As for Therien, he spent all but 11 games of his NHL career with the Flyers, with 29 goals and 130 assists. Sandwith played eight games with the Oilers. Armstrong never played an NHL game. Daniels played 27 games with Philadelphia, scoring once and getting two assists in 27 games.

Five of top eight in class of 1990 wore Flyers jersey

Perhaps one of the more fascinating aspects of that 1990 draft was five of the top eight selections that year ended up playing for Philadelphia at some point in their careers. And four of the top five! Aside from Ricci, 2nd overall pick Petr Nedved played two partial seasons with the Flyers, scoring just six goals over 49 games. In six playoff games in 2005-06 he scored twice as the Flyers were eliminated in the first round by the Buffalo Sabres. The 1990 3rd overall pick was Keith Primeau, an integral part of the Flyers success in the regular season and the playoffs, scoring 34 goals in 2000-01 and scoring nine playoff goals in the Flyers 2004 playoff drive which ended in the Conference Finals, losing to Tampa Bay in seven games.

The 5th overall pick in 1990 was Jaromir Jagr. Jagr stunned Pittsburgh by signing a one-year deal with Philadelphia in 2011-12. Considered over the hill then, Jagr was a quality offensive threat, scoring 19 goals and adding 34 assists for 53 points. Jagr, now 53, is still playing professionally as this season was spent with the Kladno Knights of the Czech league. As for the 8th selection overall, Derian Hatcher (originally selected by Dallas) played three seasons for the Flyers from 2005-06 to 2007-08.

Three picks in first round? Happened several times since 2006

The Flyers this upcoming draft also have three picks in Round One. Since the 2006 NHL Draft, 13 teams have had three first-round picks in one draft year. The first in recent memory was Edmonton who had three in the 2007 NHL Draft. The Oilers did okay with two of the three in terms of the player having a lengthy NHL career. Sam Gagner went 6th and Riley Nash went 21st. Alex Plante, who played 10 NHL games, went 15th. In 2011, Ottawa had three in the top 24 picks, taking Mika Zibanejad 6th, Stefan Noesen 21st and Matt Puempel three picks later.

The first round of the 2013 NHL Draft saw two teams with three picks apiece in the opening round. The Columbus Blue Jackets took Alex Wennberg with the 14th overall selection. Left winger Kerby Rychel went 19th, and center Marko Dano was taken 27th. Meanwhile, the Flames took center Sean Monahan 6th. The Flames chose Emile Poirier 22nd and Morgan Klimchuck 28th. Klimchuck played one NHL game, just seven fewer than Poirier did.

Bruins bomb back in 2015

Perhaps the biggest draft run in the first round (and what appears to be one of the biggest collection of busts) was at the 2015 NHL Draft where the Bruins had three consecutive picks in the low to mid-teens after some draft-floor trades. Jakub Zboril was taken 13th, Jake DeBrusk went 14th, and Zachary Senyshyn went next. Just about every single fan base outside of Boston was terrified that they could walk away with players like Mat Barzal, Kyle Connor, of Thomas Chabot with those picks.

Thankfully, two of the three had little to no impact while DeBrusk has found a new home and goal-scoring touch with Vancouver this past year, scoring 28 times. The Bruins did a bit better their next three picks with Brandon Carlo going 37th and Jeremy Lauzon 52nd. Between Carlo and Lauzon, Boston took Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson 45th.

Vegas and expansion draft leverage

The expansion Vegas Golden Knights pulled off a great ploy in getting three picks in the first round of the 2017 draft. Vegas used leverage against a handful of teams, basically stating if they didn’t acquire picks from specific teams they would simply pluck one of their players exposed during their expansion draft to create their roster. Winnipeg, Columbus, and the Islanders all traded their first round picks that year to essentially keep players from being selected. Vegas took Cody Glass 6th, Nick Suzuki 13th and defenseman Erik Brannstrom two picks later. A fourth pick (34th overall) was used for Nicolas Hague.

New York, New York

The following year, the Rangers had three first-round picks but, like Boston in 2015, seemed to miss on two of them. Russian right winger Vitali Kravtsov was 9th overall, defenseman K’Andre Miller went 22nd and six picks later the Blueshirts took Swedish blueliner Nils Lundkvist. That year was the Rangers’ biggest splash in high draft picks since 2006. Meanwhile the Islanders have had some glut of picks, none bigger than 2008 where they had seven picks in the top 73. Two of those seven were great picks for long NHL careers: Josh Bailey (9th) and Travis Hamonic (53rd) while Aaron Ness (40th) played 72 games in the bigs. The other four — Corey Trivino, David Toews, Jyri Niemi, and Kirill Petrov — never played an NHL game.

In 2020, both New Jersey and Ottawa each had three first-rounders. The Devils took Alexander Holtz (7th), Dawson Mercer (18th), and Shakir Mukhamadullin (20th). Thus far Mercer has had the most impact. The Senators took Tim Stutzle (3rd), Jake Sanderson (5th), and Ridly Greig (28th), all of whom have been crucial in helping Ottawa get to the playoffs this season.

Vegas and expansion draft leverage

The expansion Vegas Golden Knights pulled off a great ploy in getting three picks in the first round of the 2017 draft. Vegas used leverage against a handful of teams, basically stating if they didn’t acquire picks from specific teams they would simply pluck one of their players exposed during their expansion draft to create their roster. Winnipeg, Columbus, and the Islanders all traded their first round picks that year to essentially keep players from being selected. Vegas took Cody Glass 6th, Nick Suzuki 13th and defenseman Erik Brannstrom two picks later. A fourth pick (34th overall) was used for Nicolas Hague.

New York, New York

The following year, the Rangers had three first-round picks but, like Boston in 2015, seemed to miss on two of them. Russian right winger Vitali Kravtsov was 9th overall, defenseman K’Andre Miller went 22nd and six picks later the Blueshirts took Swedish blueliner Nils Lundkvist. That year was the Rangers’ biggest splash in high draft picks since 2006. Meanwhile the Islanders have had some glut of picks, none bigger than 2008 where they had seven picks in the top 73. Two of those seven were great picks for long NHL careers: Josh Bailey (9th) and Travis Hamonic (53rd) while Aaron Ness (40th) played 72 games in the bigs. The other four — Corey Trivino, David Toews, Jyri Niemi, and Kirill Petrov — never played an NHL game.

In 2020, both New Jersey and Ottawa each had three first-rounders. The Devils took Alexander Holtz (7th), Dawson Mercer (18th), and Shakir Mukhamadullin (20th). Thus far Mercer has had the most impact. The Senators took Tim Stutzle (3rd), Jake Sanderson (5th), and Ridly Greig (28th), all of whom have been crucial in helping Ottawa get to the playoffs this season.

Since 2021, multiple teams with trio of picks same year

The last three NHL Drafts have seen five teams with three first-round picks. In 2021 the Blue Jackets took Kent Johnson (5th), Cole Sillinger (12th), and Corson Ceulemans (25th). The following season saw Arizona, Buffalo, annd Chicago corner the opening round with nine picks between them. The Coyotes took Logan Cooley (3rd), Conor Geekie (11th), and Maveric Lamoureux (29th). Cooley looks to be the stud of those three but it’s early. As for Buffalo, Matthew Savoie (9th), Noah Ostlund (16th), and Jiri Kulich (28th) are looking more like prospects that didn’t amount to much. Chicago’s trio included Kevin Korchinski (7th), Frank Nazar (13th), and Sam Rinzel (25th). Again, probably too early to tell but Korchinski has almost 100 NHL games under his belt. Finally, the latest team with three first-rounders was in 2023 when the Blues took what they hope are future blue chip prospects: Dalibor Dvorsky (10th), Otto Stenberg (25th), and Theo Lindstein (29th)

Habs hog wild in early NHL Drafts

In terms of most picks in the top 50 by one NHL club, that record is eight and belongs to the Montreal Canadiens in the 1971 draft. Montreal had the 1st overall pick, selecting future Hall of Famer Guy Lafleur. But like a lot of teams, the amount of picks didn’t always end up being home runs. Chuck Arnason was taken 7th and Murray Wilson (who played some time with the Habs) went 11th. Hall of Famer Larry Robinson was the twentieth selection but Michel DeGuise and Terry French were picked 24th and 25th, respectively. Jim Cahoon was the 31st pick before Montreal’s 8th pick in the top 45 was Ed Sidebottom. No, I never heard of him either.

In 1974, Montreal had seven picks in the top 50. But perhaps the most impressive feat the Canadiens pulled off was in 1968 where they had the first three overall picks. The three picks (Michel Plasse, Roger Belisle and Jim Pritchard) were far from great. Plasse played almost 300 NHL games while Belisle and Pritchard never played an NHL game between them. In 1969, Montreal had the top two picks, taking Rejean Houle and Marc Tardif, respectively. Both had decent careers in the NHL with Tardif’s heyday playing for the rival Quebec Nordiques, scoring 39 goals and 70 points in 1981-82.

Five or six picks around the Top 50? Yes!

Since 2006, four teams have had five or more picks in or around the top 50. The Washington Capitals hit paydirt with Nicklas Backstrom 4th, Semyon Varlamov 23rd, and Michael Neuvirth 34th. Francois Bouchard (35th) and Keith Seabrook (52nd) amounted to nothing. St. Louis also hit home runs in their three first-rounders with Lars Eller (13th), Ian Cole (18th), and David Perron (26th). Eller and Perron have played over 1000 games each while Cole eclipsed the 900-game mark this season. The other two in the top 50 for St. Louis that year were Simon Hjalmarsson (39th) and Aaron Palushaj (44th) didn’t do much, the latter playing 68 games.

The Florida Panthers had six selections in the top 50 back in 2010. Erik Gudbranson (3rd), Nick Bjugstad (19th) were the picks that definitely panned out. Quinton Howard (25th) John McFarland (33rd), Alex Petrovic (36th) and Connor Brickley (50th) weren’t quite as effective as their top two choices. And in 2013 the Sabres had five in the first 52. Current Flyers blueliner Rasmus Ristolainen (8th) was Buffalo’s first pick. Nikita Zadorov (16th) was their second pick, and J.T Compher (35th) was their third. A decent crop of picks that to some extent panned out. Connor Hurley (38th) and Justin Bailey (52nd) didn’t pan out as well if at all.

Flyers’ past and Flyers’ future

Aside from 1990, the next largest trove of picks Philadelphia had was six in 1978 where they had six, including the 6th and 7th overall slots. The Flyers took Behn Wilson 6th and pesky forward Ken Linseman 7th). The following three selections had at best a cup of coffee in the big leagues. Daniel Lucas (14th) had a goal in six games during the 1978-79 season. Michael Simurda (33rd) never played an NHL game nor did Gordon Salt (37th). Philadelphia selected Glen Cochrane with their sixth pick of the draft (50th). Cochrane was known as a tough guy and enforcer who racked up 329 penalty minutes with the Flyers in 1981-82 alone.

So, although the Flyers have seven picks in the top 50, it’s evident that the picks might not pan out, or ones taken later on could be far more important than those they currently hold in the top 25 (depending on what Edmonton and/or Colorado do in the playoffs). Ideally, some of the picks are blue chip prospects and the other selections are used to add some much-needed skill and talent, hopefully down the middle.