5 random players you forgot were on the Philadelphia Flyers

5. Nikolai Zherdev

This is one of those moves that has “what if?” written all over it.

In the summer of 2010, the Flyers signed Nikolai Zherdev to a one-year deal worth $2 million. The Ukranian winger had skill, but many questioned his work ethic and commitment to the NHL game after he bolted to the KHL early in his career.

Even with the baggage surrounding him, the contract wasn’t a huge commitment, so on its face this didn’t seem like that bad of a move. Zherdev even changed the spelling of his first name from Nikolai to Nikolay, to show he was committed to the old adage of there being no “I” in team (seriously look it up).

The issue was that Zherdev’s signing was an attempt to mitigate the loss of Simon Gagne, who the Flyers would trade to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a salary dump just 10 days later. Though Gagne had been slowed by injuries the season prior, he was still a leader in the locker room and provided a few clutch goals during the Flyers run to the Cup Final in 2010.

Zherdev was no Gagne, and he quickly found himself in head coach Peter Laviolette‘s dog house. Despite notching 16 goals in 56 games while playing primarily bottom-six minutes and teammate Claude Giroux calling him one of the most talented players he’d ever played with, Zherdev failed to find a permanent spot on the Flyers roster.

Zherdev is one of those players who will undoubtedly be forgotten by Flyers fans — if they haven’t already — but it’s probably not all his fault. While he did struggle to play a responsible game, he fell victim to league-wide stereotypes about Slavic players and a coach who held him on a short leash.

With his size and skill set, Zherdev should have been remembered as a key offensive weapon on a deep Flyers team. Instead, his legacy will be opening up a roster spot for Zac Rinaldo in the bottom of the lineup.