2008–09 Philadelphia Flyers season
The 2008–09 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Flyers' 42nd season in the National Hockey League. The Flyers lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games.
Regular season
The Flyers began the 2008–09 season by naming Mike Richards the 17th captain in Flyers history on September 17, with Jason Smith headed to the Ottawa Senators as a free agent. The Flyers were looking to build on the success of the previous season, but instead got off to an 0–3–3 start which became indicative of the season ahead. Despite a solid December and January, and finishing with four points more than the year before, for the most part the 2008–09 Flyers were an inconsistent unit, playing at the top of their ability one night while subpar the next. Defenseman Derian Hatcher missed the entire regular season and playoffs with a knee injury, and Steve Downie was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning for defenseman Matt Carle. Two pleasant surprises were the emergence of rookie center Claude Giroux and defenseman Luca Sbisa, who was drafted by the Flyers in June with the 19th overall pick acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for R. J. Umberger, the victim of a salary cap crunch. Scottie Upshall also found himself the victim of such a crunch, traded to the Phoenix Coyotes for Daniel Carcillo at the trade deadline.Despite holding on to the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference for much of the season, due to a 4–5–1 finish to the season, highlighted by a home loss to the New York Rangers on the last day of the regular season, the Flyers slipped to the fifth seed and lost home-ice advantage in their first round series with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Flyers finished the regular season having scored the most shorthanded goals in the NHL, with 16, and having allowed the fewest shorthanded goals, with just one.
Divisional standings
Conference standings
Playoffs
Pittsburgh dominated the Flyers in Game 1, and despite a better effort by the Flyers in Game 2, Pittsburgh came to Philadelphia with a 2–0 series lead. The Flyers were the better team in Games 3 and 4, but Pittsburgh gained a split in Philadelphia and took a 3–1 series lead. After a decisive 3–0 win in Game 5, the Flyers jumped out to a 3–0 lead in Game 6, but promptly fell victim to the inconsistencies that plagued the team all season and gave up five unanswered goals in a season-ending 5–3 loss.Schedule and results
Pre-season
Regular season
Playoffs
Player statistics
Scoring
- Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left Wing; RW = Right Wing
- = Joined team via a transaction during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.
- = Left team via a transaction during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.
Goaltending
Awards and records
Awards
Records
Individual
Team
Milestones
Transactions
The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from June 5, 2008, the day after the deciding game of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 12, 2009, the day of the deciding game of the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals.Trades
Signings
Free agency
The following players were signed by the Flyers via free agency. Two-way contracts are marked with an asterisk.| Date | Player | Previous team | Term | Ref |
| July 1, 2008 | Sean Curry | Providence Bruins | 2-year* | |
| July 1, 2008 | Glen Metropolit | Boston Bruins | 2-year | |
| July 1, 2008 | Nate Raduns | Worcester Sharks | 1-year* | |
| July 1, 2008 | Ossi Vaananen | Djurgardens IF | 1-year | |
| July 7, 2008 | Arron Asham | New Jersey Devils | 2-year | |
| September 18, 2008 | Jean-Sebastien Aubin | Anaheim Ducks | 1-year* | |
| March 26, 2009 | Johan Backlund | Timra IK | 1-year* | |
| June 10, 2009 | Ray Emery | Atlant Moscow Oblast | 1-year |
Internal
The following players were either re-signed by the Flyers or, in the case of the team's selections in the NHL Entry Draft, signed to entry level contracts. Two-way contracts are marked with an asterisk.| Date | Player | Term | Ref |
| June 26, 2008 | Jeff Carter | 3-year | |
| June 29, 2008 | Steve Eminger | 1-year | |
| July 2, 2008 | Riley Cote | 3-year | |
| July 2, 2008 | Randy Jones | 2-year | |
| July 2, 2008 | Danny Syvret | 1-year* | |
| July 15, 2008 | Nate Guenin | 1-year* | |
| July 21, 2008 | Joffrey Lupul | 4-year extension | |
| July 22, 2008 | Kevin Marshall | 3-year* | |
| August 7, 2008 | Chris Zarb | * | |
| October 1, 2008 | Luca Sbisa | 3-year* | |
| April 1, 2009 | James van Riemsdyk | 3-year* |
Waivers
The Flyers were involved in the following waivers transactions.| Date | Player | Team | Ref |
| February 27, 2009 | Glen Metropolit | to Montreal Canadiens | |
| February 27, 2009 | Ossi Vaananen | to Vancouver Canucks |
Departures
The following players left the team via free agency, release, or retirement. Players who were under contract and left the team during the season are marked with an asterisk.| Date | Player | New team | Via | Ref |
| July 3, 2008 | Rory Fitzpatrick | Florida Panthers | Free agency | |
| July 3, 2008 | Stefan Ruzicka | Spartak Moscow | Free agency | |
| July 8, 2008 | Jason Smith | Ottawa Senators | Free agency | |
| July 14, 2008 | Patrick Thoresen | HC Lugano | Free agency | |
| July 25, 2008 | Martin Grenier | Traktor Chelyabinsk | Free agency | |
| July 31, 2008 | Jaroslav Modry | HC Liberec | Free agency | |
| August 21, 2008 | Rejean Beauchemin | Idaho Steelheads | Free agency | |
| August 28, 2008 | Darren Reid | Hershey Bears | Free agency | |
| October 22, 2008 | Martin Houle | Las Vegas Wranglers | Free agency | |
| November 8, 2008 | Jesse Boulerice | Colorado Avalanche | Free agency | |
| November 17, 2008 | Frederik Cabana* | — | Release | |
| April 7, 2009 | Jim Dowd | — | Retirement |
Draft picks
Philadelphia's picks at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, which was held at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Ontario on June 20–21, 2008. The Flyers traded their originally allotted second, third, fifth, and seventh-round picks in four separate trades.| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | Notes |
| 1 | 19 | Luca Sbisa | Defense | Switzerland | Lethbridge Hurricanes | |
| 3 | 67 | Marc-Andre Bourdon | Defense | Canada | Rouyn-Noranda Huskies | |
| 3 | 84 | Jacob DeSerres | Goaltender | Canada | Seattle Thunderbirds | |
| 6 | 178 | Zac Rinaldo | Center | Canada | Mississauga St. Michael's Majors | |
| 7 | 196 | Joacim Eriksson | Goaltender | Sweden | Brynas IF |
Farm teams
;American Hockey League – Philadelphia PhantomsThe 2008–09 season was the Phantoms' last playing in the Wachovia Spectrum and means they will move following the season. Comcast Spectacor sold the Phantoms to the Brooks Group of Pittsburgh on February 4, 2009, and the new ownership has expressed interest in eventually moving the Phantoms to Allentown provided that a multi-purpose arena can be constructed there. Until a permanent new home is found for the club it will have to operate starting in 2009–10 in a temporary location. The site being given the most serious consideration for that is Glen Falls, the former home of the AHL Adirondack Red Wings from 1979 to 1999. Comcast Spectacor continues to operate the team through the conclusion of the 2008–09 AHL season and playoffs.
With Craig Berube returning to his role as an assistant coach with the Flyers, John Paddock was named head coach of the Phantoms. The Phantoms trailed the Binghamton Senators by as many as 12 points on March 14 for the final playoff spot in the East Division, but came back to overtake Binghamton and clinch the final playoff spot in the final regular season game at the Spectrum. The Phantoms final season in Philadelphia came to an end after being swept from the first round of the playoffs by the Hershey Bears.
;ECHL – Mississippi Sea Wolves
Mississippi missed the ECHL playoffs and announced they would suspend operations for the 2009–10 season.