December 5, 2005
The trading of prospects can lead to some wonderful things, or terrible blunders. It’s all in how someone views young talent and their potential. With the Flyers front office, they didn’t see what another team apparently did.
In a relatively small footnote to the 2005-06 season, the Flyers made a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks. The Flyers acquired right wing Matt Ellison and a 2006 third-round pick in exchange for defenseman Eric Meloche and right wing Patrick Sharp.
Yes, that Patrick Sharp.
Out of the University of Vermont, Sharp joined the Philadelphia Phantoms in 2002-03. He spent three seasons there, scoring 52 goals in 163 games. The Calder Cup winning team in 2004-05 included Sharp and a cast of others that would go on to NHL success. Names like Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Antero Niittymaki, and Dennis Seidenberg all cut their teeth in the AHL behind coach John Stevens while the NHL was in a lockout.
The following season of 2005-06, the 24-year-old Sharp played in 22 games for the Flyers. He notched five goals and three assists before heading to the Windy City. In 50 games for Chicago, he scored 9 goals and 14 assists.
It would be the 2006-07 season where Sharp continued to mature and hone his skill with a young Chicago squad that included future All-Stars Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. Sharp hit the 20-goal mark in 80 games played, which was second on the team to Martin Havlat.
Under coach Denis Savard, Sharp continued to flourish in 2007-08. Joined now by a pair of 19-year-olds, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, Chicago was building something special. Sharp netted 36 goals that season and solidified himself as a true sniper in the NHL.
In the following four years, Sharp would score more than 25 goals each season. He was a part of three Stanley Cup winners, 2010, 2013 and last year in 2015.
With his offseason trade to Dallas this summer, the 34-year-old played 10 years in Chicago, in almost 800 regular season and playoffs combined. At 34, he’s now in Dallas to help a young team featuring the Benns, brothers Jamie and Jordie, reach their potential.
As for the other side of that trade: Ellison played a whopping seven games for the Flyers over two seasons, recording one assist.
The third-round pick was transferred to Montreal, however it ended up producing current Flyer Ryan White.
Mike Watson is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Mwats_99.
