5 random players you forgot were on the Philadelphia Flyers

3. Paul Coffey

Finding out that the legendary Paul Coffey, the man who revolutionized the modern conception of the offensive defenseman and tortured the Flyers in the 80s as a part of the vaunted Edmonton Oilers, was at one point in his career a member of the Philadelphia Flyers really messed me up as a young hockey fan.

There were the good guys in Flyers history, and the bad guys. As a kid it felt like there was far too little discussion about the fact that one of the most prominent bad guys actually became… a good guy?

But Coffey’s lack of importance in Flyers history highlights how random his tenure actually was. As is often the story in this list of random, forgettable players, Coffey joining the Flyers was the team’s attempt to fix a glaring need by bringing in a well-known name who was past their prime.

Instead of vintage Coffey, the Flyers got a player who had just a few seasons left in the NHL. In 94 games with the Flyers, Coffey registered eight goals and 47 assists, a far cry from his 40-goal seasons in Edmonton.

Coffey is deserving of a spot on this list due to the pure shock value alone, but he’s also on here due to the symbolic nature of his tenure compared to that of so many other Flyers past, present and future.

Coffey was a legend, but was on the Flyers at the wrong time and place of his career. As Flyers fans are further removed from the brief, but enjoyable tenures of Peter Forsberg, Chris Pronger and Jaromir Jagr, will those names also slip into obscurity in the annals of Flyers history? Will young fans learn of them and look at them in the same vain as I did with Paul Coffey?

It’s a sad thought experiment, but one that puts into context what players mean to different fanbases across eras.