Patrick Sharp and the Players the Flyers Should Have Kept on Their Roster

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Early in their history the Philadelphia Flyers were pretty good about keeping their best players in orange and black, then the 1991 NHL Entry Draft took place and the Flyers went after Eric Lindros.

Since that time, the Flyers franchise has had a singular focus, win the Stanley Cup.  That focus has seen the Flyers cast aside many players in trades. Some of those players were developed talents, others like Patrick Sharp were more raw and developing when the Flyers unloaded them.

What follows is a list of players that the Flyers brass should have kept on the roster.

Peter Forsberg, Mike Ricci, Ron Hextall, et al.

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Ah, the Eric Lindros debacle.  Lindros was the prized prospect in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft, a draft that the Quebec Nordiques held the first pick in. Lindros had made it clear that if he was drafted by Quebec he would not play for the team; they drafted him anyway.

The team later made deals with the Flyers and the Rangers for Lindros. An arbitrator ruled that the Flyers trade would stand and the deal was consummated, The Flyers got Lindros and Quebec got (take a breath), Mike Ricci, Peter Forsberg, Steve Duchesne, Kerry Huffman, Ron Hextall, Chris Simon, first round picks in 1993 and 1994 and $15 million cash. The kicker was that the Flyers were happy with this deal.

Forsberg, would eventually turn into everything Lindros was believed to be. Forsberg would go on to hoist the Cup with the Avalanche, while Lindros would ring up an impressive list of individual achievements, never getting his name etched on the Cup.

While it is true that Lindros was a dominant player for the Flyers, he was also injury prone. In addition, his father, who was also his manager, did not see eye to eye with Flyers GM Bob Clarke and after eight tumultuous seasons he was sent to the New York Rangers for far less than what it cost the Flyers in 1992.

1996 First Round Pick That Turned into Danny Briere

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In November 1995 the Flyers sent Martin Spanhel and two draft picks to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for former second overall pick Pat Falloon.  Falloon spent parts of three seasons with the Flyers, never living up to his high draft pick status.

The kicker is that one of the draft picks, a first round pick in the 1996 draft that was transferred to the Phoenix Coyotes was turned into Danny Briere, a current member of the Flyers.

Vinny Prospal

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Vinny Prospal was a homegrown player, working his way up from the AHL and spending two seasons with the big club before being packed with Pat Falloon and a second round pick and sent to the Ottawa Senators for Alexandre Daigle.

Daigle, the number one pick in the 1993 draft lasted for parts of two seasons with the Flyers, scoring an abysmal 12 goals.  He was later shipped to Edmonton who traded him to Tampa Bay the same day.

Daigle would only play 616 games in the NHL, Prospal remains in the league, signing with Columbus this offseason.

Rod Brind'Amour

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When Brindy was traded along with Jean-Marc Pelletier and a draft pick for Keith Primeau and a draft pick it was as if the heart of the Flyers hockey club had been ripped it and exchanged for a player whose reputation was nowhere near that of Brind'Amour.

Primeau was a fine leader and captain for the Flyers, leading them to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2004. Primeau's career was cut short due to a concussion he suffered early in the 2005 season. 

Brind'Amour would go on to captain the 'Canes to the 2006 playoffs before retiring after the 2010 season. To this day, he remains one of the most beloved players in Flyers recent history.

Patrick Sharp

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Patrick Sharp was up and down between the Philadelphia Flyers and the AHL's Philadelphia Phantoms before he was shipped off to Chicago with Eric Meloche in exchange for Matt Ellison and a 2006 draft pick.

Since joining the Hawks, Sharp secured a prominent role with the club, scoring 22 points during the 'Hawks run to the 2010 Stanley Cup.

On August 3 of this year, Sharp signed a five-year $29.5 million deal with the Hawks.

Ellison played seven games with the Flyers.

Dennis Seidenberg

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Dennis Seidenberg was another Flyers draft pick that struggled to make the Flyers line up full time, rotating between the Flyers and the AHL's Phantoms.

In January of 2006 Seidenberg was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for Petr Nedved. Nedved put up six goals in parts of two seasons with the Flyers. The Edmonton Oilers would pluck Nedved off the waiver wire in 2006-07. He was out of the NHL the next season.

Seidenberg, for his part has bounced around between four teams since leaving the Flyers, but he seems to have found a home in Boston, where he was part of the 2010-11 Stanley Cup winning team.

Simon Gagne

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Gagne spent ten years with the Flyers before being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Matt Walker. Gagne would put up 40 points with the Lightning before signing with the Los Angeles Kings for two-years over this summer.

Walker would put up 0 points in four games with the Flyers following the trade.