There have been 526 players selected by the Philadelphia Flyers over their history. Some of them have been hits, a lot of them have been misses and some in between stuck around for a handful of games. Using the seven rounds of the current 2025 NHL Draft framework, BroadStreetHockey have decided to do their own all-time draft of Flyers: who might have been the best Flyer selected at a specific slot. And some who were picked in a specific slot but never made the cut. Here then is the fifth round (picks #160 to #129) of the Flyers all time NHL Draft:
#160: A year before the Flyers defeated and physically pummeled the Red Army at the Spectrum — causing the visiting team to leave the ice for some time before returning — Philadelphia made history when they selected Viktor Khatulev in the 1975 NHL Draft. He was the first Soviet-born player ever selected by an NHL team. According to various reports, Khatulev only found out he was drafted by the Flyers in 1978 as Russian officials kept it a secret. The idea being if a Russian player found out he was drafted by an NHL club, he might have considered defecting to North America.
The Flyers knew at the time there was nearly zero chance they’d get the rather rough and tumble Khatulev over to play, but the selection later paved the way for other teams to select Soviet-born players who would eventually come in the late ’80s. Khatulev never played an NHL game. He was also drafted by the Cleveland Crusaders of the World Hockey Association in 1975. Tragically, Khatulev died in 1994, reportedly under suspicious circumstances. He was 39.
#159: Dave Isherwood (1977) never saw action in an NHL, AHL, or ECHL game. He played four seasons: two in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League and two in the Western Canada Hockey League, another junior league and a forerunner of the Western Hockey League.
#158: Cooper Marody (2015) has almost come full circle. After being drafted by Philadelphia, the Flyers traded Marody to Edmonton for a 2019 third-round pick. Marody played seven games with the Oilers, spending much of his time in Bakersfield, Edmonton’s AHL affiliate. In July 2022, Marody was signed by the Flyers. He’s spent the last three seasons with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
#153: The Crowder Brothers were two of Boston’s favorites in the early 80s. Bruce Crowder (1977) never played a game for the Flyers, instead suiting up for the Maine Mariners. Crowder was let go by Philadelphia and signed with Boston as a free agent. He played three seasons with Boston (and his brother Keith) before playing 26 games with the Penguins, closing out his career in 1984-85. Crowder scored 47 goals and 51 assists for 98 points in 243 games.
#152: Jon Kalinski (2007) spent 22 games with the Flyers over two seasons. His bigger claim to fame is being part of a trade which saw Philadelphia send him and two 2013 draft picks to Tampa Bay. The Lightning sent back defenseman Pavel Kubina. Kalinski scored one goal with four helpers in those 22 games.
#151: In 1990, Philadelphia took Patrik Englund in this slot. The forward spent his entire career in Sweden, never making the trek across the pond to play in North America. Of course, hindsight being 20/20, the Flyers could’ve picked another available prospect. Washington decided to take a chance five picks later on Peter Bondra. Bondra played over 1000 games and finished his career with 503 goals.
#150: Austrian keeper Bernd Buckler (2001) never played an NHL game. But he has made a career out of hockey. After playing in the KHL, Buckler co-wrote a book about his experiences entitled This Is Russia: Life In The KHL. He is currently a sports agent after spending time in the AHL, the ECHL and four seasons with the University of Wisconsin playing NCAA hockey.
#149: Gino Pisellini (2004) was selected using the pick the Flyers acquired after trading Eric Weinrich during the 2004 trade deadline. Pisellini had a bit of a goal scoring touch but was primarily relied upon to be an enforcer, racking up 214 penalty minutes with the OHL’s Plymouth Whalers in 2003-04. The furthest Pisellini got professionally was a 32-game stint with the Philadelphia Phantoms in 2006-07.
#148: The lone pick in this slot is Noah Powell (2024). Powell split his 2024-25 season with Ohio State University and Oshawa Generals. At 20 years of age, there’s plenty of time for Powell to develop into a player the Flyers can use.
#147: Tony Horacek (1985) played three years with the Flyers and 116 games. He scored nine goals over that time before being traded to Chicago during the 1992 trade deadline for Blackhawks defenseman Ryan McGill. His final NHL season was with Chicago in 1994-95.
#146: Jussi Timonen (2001) was the lesser known of the Timonen brothers who played for the Flyers. Jussi played 14 games in 2006-07 with Philadelphia before the Flyers traded him to Dallas, getting a seventh-round pick in return. Timonen, the younger brother of Kimmo, had a lengthy career in Europe, playing in Finland up to the 2019-20 season.
#145: Jon Rheault (2006) bounced around the minors but managed to play five games in 2012-13 for the Panthers (who signed him as a free agent). Rheault then played in Europe with stops in Mannheim and Manchester. Rheault’s sister Jenna also has the hockey gene as she plays in the PWHL with the Boston Pride.
#144: Chris Zarb (2004) played three seasons at Ferris State University but the closest he got to Philadelphia was playing four games for the Phantoms who, in 2008-09, called Philadelphia home. Zarb concluded his career with some time in France.
#143: Sam Ersson (2018) has had his share of problems in goal. Ersson was thrust into the spotlight after being deemed a backup to start the 2023-24 season. After a horrible 2024-25 among all three Flyer goalies, it’s unclear what the future holds for the beleagured netminder.
#142: The Flyers selected Steve Short (1974) but the WHA’s Phoenix Roadrunners also drafted Short the same year. Unfortunately for Short, he never played for either team. He was traded to Los Angeles in 1977 for future considerations (which later turned out to be Paul Evans). Short played six games in the NHL, five for Los Angeles in 1977-78 and a single game for Detroit the following season.
#141: In 2012, Philadelphia took a chance on forward Reece Wilcox. Wilcox looked to be a good, big defenseman but suited up for over 200 games for the Phantoms from 2015-16 to 2019-20. The blueliner ended his career with two seasons in Austria, the last in 2022-23.
#140: Dave Brown (1982) followed the lead by another tough, rugged Flyer named Dave in the ’70s. Brown, an imposing fighter (6’5″, 210 lbs), had two seasons where he scored 10 or more goals. Perhaps his biggest claim to fame was the “brawl in Montreal” back in 1987. Montreal and the Flyers got into a pre-game melee before Game 6 of their Eastern Conference Finals. And pummeling Chris Nilan. Although most of his career was with Philadelphia, Brown played two years in Edmonton. In 1989, the Flyers sent Brown to the Oilers for Keith Acton. In 1991, Brown, Cory Foster and Jari Kurri were traded by Edmonton to the Flyers for Craig Berube, Craig Fisher, and Scott Mellanby. Brown wrapped up his playing days with the San Jose Sharks in 1995-96. He ended up with 1789 penalty minutes in 729 regular season games.
#139: Philadelphia took Linus Hogberg (2016), a defenseman on the smaller side. Hogberg spent most of his time in Sweden. He played two partial seasons with Lehigh Valley and made it to the big club for five games. Hogberg didn’t score for the Flyers in those games but had two assists. He spent last season playing in Sweden for Frolunda.
#138: For all the promise he showed, Oskar Lindblom (2014) is one of those players we’ll never know how good he could’ve been. Sadly, he was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma (a form of bone cancer) in late 2019. Surprisingly, Lindblom was on the ice in September, 2020 during the playoffs of the pandemic-shortened season having made a full recovery from the disease. Lindblom finished his three-year deal with Philadelphia and signed with San Jose as a free agent. He returned to Sweden following the 2023-24 season. As a Flyer during regular season action Lindblom had 50 goals and 47 assists
#137: With 40 goals and 62 assists in 235 games, Noah Cates (2017) is probably going to be with Philadelphia for years to come. We know it’ll be for the next four seasons probably after inking his $16 million contract.
#136: Nanaimo, B.C. native Clint Eccles’ heyday was junior hockey with the Kamloops Chiefs. The following season Eccles played 42 games with the Milwaukee Admirals in the IHL in 1977-78. That was the peak of his professional career.
#135: Pete Peeters (1977) bookended his career with the Flyers, beginning in 1978-79 and finishing in 1990-91. His first full season saw Peeters with an impressive 29-5-5 record in 1979-80. But the season ended with Bob Nystrom beating him in overtime, giving the Islanders their first Stanley Cup. In 1982, Peeters was traded to Boston for defenseman Brad McCrimmon, a deal that worked out quite well for both sides. In 1989, after five seasons with Washington, the Flyers and Peeters were together again.
Peeters was part of one of the strangest trades in NHL history back in 1989 when he and Keith Acton were traded for future considerations to Winnipeg. The future considerations ended up being Acton and Peeters. The ploy was to avoid one or both of them being claimed on waivers. Both Philadelphia and Winnipeg were fined $10,000 for the swap.
#134: Darre Switzer (1978) racked up a batch of penalty minutes with the Medicine Hat Tigers over two seasons. Switzer played only three games with the Maine Mariners in 1978-79 before a few stops in the minor leagues.
#133: With all due respect to Jesse Boulerice (1996), most fans of today’s Flyers are hoping Alex Bump (2022) develops into one of Philadelphia’s key pieces down the road. Bump had an impressive finish to his NCAA career with Western Michigan and more than held his own with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms during their playoff run this past season.
#132: The late Dmitri Tertyshny (1995) was primed to be a decent to good Flyers defenseman. His rookie season, 1998-99, saw him play 62 games, scoring twice and adding eight helpers. Tragically, Tertyshy died in a terrible boating mishap in July 1999 in British Columbia. He was just 22.