Was Mikael Renberg really the last? A Look Into The Flyers Bad Drafting That Dates Nearly 30 Years

That is it! Mikael Renberg. The Philadelphia Flyers have not drafted a top tier player from outside of North America since. If you exclude Sweden, the Flyers haven't had ANY success in the NHL draft with any foreign-born players, since their inception into the league. Ivan Provorov is a Russian born player, but he came to North America at the age of 13 and was scouted and drafted out of the Western Hockey League's Brandon Wheat Kings organization. Czechia born Vaclav Prospal, Lithuanian Dainius Zubrus, Russian Dimitri Yushkevich, and a few less notable Flyers draftees experienced relatively productive or serviceable careers, but not with the Flyers.

It is a sadly remarkable revelation, especially given the number of foreign-born players who have played at an elite level over that thirty-year span. Whether from Sweden, Finland, Russia, Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia, Switzerland, or more obscure countries, the Flyers have neglected to draft a single player from outside of North America since 1991, who has turned heads in the NHL.

How could the vast majority of NHL teams have drafted all-star caliber players from overseas, at some point in the last three decades, but not Philadelphia? Where does the blame lie? Has it been an organizational decision, to mainly draft North Americans? Are the Flyers scouts responsible for poorly scouting overseas? Does the fault lie with the Flyers revolving door of General Managers, who make the final call at the table?

Perhaps Ivan Fedetov will escape Siberia, turn into Andrei Vasilevskiy 2.0, and make this a moot point!