Top 10 Best Philadelphia Flyers Players of All Time

Since joining the NHL in 1967, the Philadelphia Flyers have collected two Stanley Cups, won consecutively in 1974 and 1975. Over the years, numerous great players have elevated the team to success. This article ranks the 10 best hockey players to play for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Who Are the Best Philadelphia Flyers Hockey Players of All Time?

1. Bobby Clarke
2. Bernie Parent
3. Bill Barber
4. Mark Howe
5. Eric Lindros
6. John LeClair
7. Claude Giroux
8. Ron Hextall
9. Reggie Leach
10. Mark Recchi

1.Bobby Clarke

• 1,210 points as a Flyer, franchise record holder
• Two-time Stanley Cup winner
• Two-time Hart Trophy winner

Bobby Clarke struggled to find a team that would draft him in 1969, but when the Philadelphia Flyers scooped this center up, they received 15 seasons of loyalty and fantastic offensive hockey in return. Clarke played in Philadelphia until his retirement in 1984, playing a major role in collecting both the Flyers’ Stanley Cup wins in 1974 and 1975.

Clarke also won the NHL MVP award and the Hart Trophy during these seasons. Most impressively, other than his leadership on the ice as Flyers’ captain, is Clarke’s 1,210 points as a Flyer. Clarke holds the number-one slot all-time in Flyers points (1,210), assists (852), and games played (1,144). He has the fourth most goals scored for the franchise too, with 358. With these unmatchable stats, Bobby Clarke is, by far, the best offensive player to ever wear a Philadelphia Flyer uniform.

2. Bernie Parent

• Two-time Stanley Cup winner
• Second most wins in a season in NHL history (47)
• Won two consecutive Conn Smythe and Vezina Trophies (1974 and 1975)

While Bobby Clarke was scoring points and shooting goals for Philly, Bernie Parent was guarding the net. Indisputably the best goalkeeper in Flyers’ history, Parent played in the NHL from 1965-1979, spending 1967-1979 as a Philadelphia Flyer. During this stretch with the Flyers, Parent made two Stanley Cup wins possible for the franchise and set goalkeeping records that have yet to be broken.

In the 1973-1974 season, Parent managed 47 wins, which places him at the second most in a season in all NHL history. This season and the following, Parent won the most prestigious goalie awards the NHL has to offer, the Conn Smythe and Vezina Trophies. Perhaps even more impressively, he holds at least two Flyers records, with 12,679 career saves and 50 shutouts.

3. Bill Barber

• Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1980
• Six-time All-Star
• Two-time Stanley Cup winner

Bill Barber spent his entire 12-season NHL career as a Philadelphia Flyer, beginning in 1972 and retiring in 1984. In all 12 years as a professional Left Wing, Barber never scored under 20 goals. His best scoring season came in the 1975-1976 season, with a prominent 50 goals. Although Barber’s teammate, Bobby Clarke, was more often celebrated, Barber is the holder of the Flyers’ all-time record of goals, at 420.

This offensive combination of Barber and Clarke, plus right winger Reggie Leach, is remembered in NHL history as the prolific “Broad Street Bullies”. Barber was a two-time Stanley Cup winner as a Flyer, on top of six All-Star selections, and a 1980 Hockey Hall of Fame induction.

4. Mark Howe

• Second in Norris Trophy voting on three occasions
• Competed in three Stanley Cups
• Best plus/minus rating of any Philadelphia Flyer (+85)

Mark Howe was a professional defenseman from 1979-1995. He played 10 of these seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers, stretching from 1982-1992. Howe was a defender, but he made significant offensive contributions while playing this role, responsible for 342 assists and 138 goals during his Flyers career.

Howe set the Flyers’ record of best plus minus rating in the 1985-1986 season, with an outlandish +85. He also ranks fourth all time in the Flyers record books for shorthand goals, with 24, and third all-time in defensive point shares, with 48.0. Howe’s time came after the “Broad Street Bullies” collected both of Philadelphia’s Stanley Cups; however, he did play in three Stanley Cups throughout his career. Howe’s defense was instrumental in the Flyers making the 1985 Stanley Cup before they were defeated by the Edmonton Oilers.

5. Eric Lindros

• Hart MVP Trophy winner (1995)
• Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2016
• Philadelphia retired number 88 in his honor in 2018

Eric Lindros played center for the Philadelphia Flyers from 1992-2000 before ending his career with six seasons playing for other NHL teams. Second only to the “Broad Street Bullies” offensive line of the Flyers’ 1970s, Lindros was leader of the “Legion of Doom,” accompanied by historic wings John LeClair and Mikael Renberg. Lindros was the offensive man leading Philly to the Stanley Cup Final in 1997, where the Flyers suffered a devastating 2-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

Lindros scored 290 goals in his eight seasons with the Flyers, placing him ninth in Philadelphia history. Lindros’s 369 Flyers assists also tie him for seventh place all-time with Rick MacLeish. Eric Lindros was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2016, and the Flyers retired his #88 jersey two years later in 2018. 

6. John LeClair

• 5th most career goals in Flyers history, 333
• First American-born NHL player to score 50 plus goals in three consecutive seasons
• Five-time All-Star

The second most impressive member of the “Legion of Doom,” John LeClair, played left wing for the Flyers from 1994-2007. The last time a Philadelphia Flyer scored 50 goals in a season was in 1998. John LeClair, born in Vermont, was the Flyer to accomplish this feat. More than that, he was the first American to score 50 or more goals in three straight seasons, which he accomplished from 1995-1998.

In fact, in his 10 Flyers seasons, LeClair only scored less than 20 goals twice. LeClair totaled 333 goals as a Flyer, meaning he has scored the fifth most career goals in Philadelphia hockey history. He also holds the record for most game-winning goals scored for the Flyers, with 61 clutch career goals. LeClair’s goal-scoring knack helped lead Philadelphia to the Stanley Cup in 1997. Though Philadelphia did not walk away from the series the victors, LeClair remains a revered name in Flyers’ franchise history.

7. Claude Giroux

• Seven-time All-Star
• Fourth best NHL scorer of the 2010s
• Runner-up in Flyers history in assists and points categories (609 and 900)

The only player on this list still actively playing professional hockey, Claude Giroux, played for the Philadelphia Flyers from 2007-2021, before moving to the Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators in recent seasons. In the 2010s decade, Claude Giroux attracted the eyes of hockey fans with his incredible scoring abilities, finishing the 10 years out as a top 5 NHL scorer. Giroux’s abilities were only surpassed by Patrick Kane, Sidney Crosby, and Alex Ovechkin. With this statistic in mind, it is unsurprising that in 15 seasons with Philadelphia, Giroux managed to collect the second most assists in Flyers history, an impressive 609.

Perhaps even more impressively, Giroux is also runner-up in franchise points, at exactly 900. Though further down on the list of all-time goals, Giroux still ranks, with 291 goals and sitting in eighth place. Giroux’s career with the Flyers may be over, but his talent as a professional hockey player is still shining on with other franchises.

8. Ron Hextall

• 1987 Conn Smythe Trophy winner
• Most wins of any Flyers goalie (240)
• 1987 Vezina Trophy winner

Ron Hextall tended goal for the Philadelphia Flyers from 1986-1992 and again from 1994-1999, making a name for himself as one of the best to ever play the position in franchise history. Both Hextall’s trophies, the Conn Smythe and Vezina Trophies, were amazingly collected in his rookie season. Hextall started his career out with a bang, but he didn’t slow up after that, going on to collect the most wins of any Flyers’ goalie (240), surpassing even Bernie Parent in the category.

Hextall has the second most saves in Flyers history, with 11,660, and even played 18 shutout games as a Flyer. Bernie Parent was a tough act to follow in Philadelphia, but Ron Hextall certainly wasn’t too far behind the legendary goalkeeper.

9. Reggie Leach

• 1976 Conn Smythe Winner
• Three-time All-Star
• Seventh most Flyers’ goals in history (306)

Right winger Reggie Leach played NHL hockey from 1970-1983. Leach’s 1974-1982 seasons were spent as a Philadelphia Flyer, putting on an offensive show. Leach scored 306 goals as a Flyer, which is the seventh most in franchise history. He also created 226.9 goals, the 10th most in Flyers history.

Leach was a three-time All-Star, and though he missed out on the Flyers’ Stanley Cup win in 1994, he was a key player in their 1975 win. In 1976, the Flyers did not capture the Cup, but they made it to the championship and Leach took home Conn Smythe MVP. Leach more than earned this trophy in his 16 playoff games that season, scoring 24 points and 19 goals.

10. Mark Recchi

• Five-time All-Star
• 2017 Hall of Famer
• Sixth most assists as a Philadelphia Flyer (395)

Mark Recchi moved around quite a bit in his NHL career, starting with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1988 and playing for the Montreal Canadiens, Carolina Hurricanes, and more. Recchi played the longest, however, as a Philadelphia Flyer. His first stint with the team came from 1991-1995, and his second from 1998-2004.

Despite playing for the Flyers for a shorter time than others on this list, Recchi scored the ninth most points in Flyers history, with 627. Unsurprising when Recchi impressively averaged almost a point a game his entire career. He also ranks number six on Philadelphia’s all-time list of assists, with 395. Five-time All-Star Mark Recchi was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2017. 

Honorable Mentions

• Tom Bladon
• Murray Craven
• Simon Gagne
• Tim Kerr
• Pelle Lindburgh
• Rick MacLeish
• Keith Primeau
• Chris Pronger
• Brian Propp
• Jeremy Roenick
• Mike Richards
• Rick Tocchet
• Dave Schultz

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