The Philadelphia Flyers have not had a defenseman score 20 or more goals since Mark Howe scored 24 in the 1985-86 season. In fact, Howe has done it twice, scoring 21 in 1982-83, joined by Bob Dailey, 21, in 1977-78 as the only two defensemen to ever score 20+ goals in a Flyers uniform.

Last season, Travis Sanheim led all Flyers defensemen with 11 goals. That 11-goal mark is the 3rd-highest tally of goals by a Flyers defenseman over the last 10 years, sitting behind Shayne Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov (twice).

If you’re catching on, the Flyers have not really had a history of having prolific goal-scoring defensemen. So, let’s look at the last time they had a defenseman score more than 15 goals.

The Last Time the Flyers Had a 15+ Goal-Scoring Defenseman

The last time Philly had a defenseman score more than 15 goals was the 2017-18 season. They actually had two right around that mark; one two goals below at 13, the other two goals above at 17.

To set the time of when the Flyers last had a 15+ goal-scorer, that season, the Flyers returned to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, finishing 3rd in the Metropolitan Division with 18 points. Claude Giroux tallied 102 points, his lone 100-point+ season of his career. Sean Couturier scored a career-high 76 points and 31 goals, which was a career high until he broke it the following season.

That year, the Flyers played the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the postseason, losing the series 4-2.

It’s been a long time since Ivan Provorov became the last Flyers defenseman to score more than 15 goals, doing so with his 17 in 2017-18. He’s one of 3 players to do so in a Flyers uniform in the 2000’s. Gostisbehere did so in 2015-16 (17 goals), and Eric Desjardins did so in 2000-01 (15 goals).

Others that have come close are Dan McGillis (00-01, 14), Joni Pitkanan (05-06, 13), Kim Johnsson (03-04, 13), Tony DeAngelo (22-23, 11), and Travis Sanheim (25-26, 11).

Will the Flyers have a defenseman join that group this season? Or, will it mark 9 years since the last time they had a defenseman score 15+ goals.

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