After going unclaimed in the 1999 NHL expansion draft, longtime goaltender Ron Hextall was waived by the Flyers on July 1 for the purpose of buying out the final season of his contract.[2] Hextall cleared waivers and announced his retirement on September 6, 1999.[3][4]
A little over a week later on July 23, defenseman Dmitri Tertyshny, coming off his rookie season, was fatally injured in a boating accident. Tertyshny was on a boating trip to Okanagan Lake in British Columbia with two players from the Flyers' minor-league affiliate Philadelphia Phantoms, Francis Belanger and Mikhail Chernov, when a freak accident caused him to suffer fatal injuries. The boat hit a wave and caused him to fall forward overboard. The boat ran over him and its propeller slashed his neck and his jugular vein.[6]
Regular season
Head coach Roger Neilson was diagnosed with bone cancer, forcing him to step aside in February 2000 to undergo treatment, so assistant coach Craig Ramsay took over as interim coach for the rest of the season; Neilson later recovered but was informed that he would not be returning.
In January, longtime Flyer and fan favorite Rod Brind'Amour was shipped to the Carolina Hurricanes for Keith Primeau, with the intention of acquiring a big center to complement Eric Lindros. Meanwhile, the strife between Flyers management (particularly GM Bob Clarke) and Lindros, continued to worsen. Less than a month after Ramsay took over, Lindros suffered his second concussion of the season. He played several games after the initial hit and afterwards criticized the team's training staff for failing to initially diagnose the concussion after it happened. It was after this that the Flyers' organization decided to strip Lindros of the captaincy on March 27 and name defenseman Eric Desjardins the team's captain.[7]
With Lindros out indefinitely, the Flyers rallied to overcome the distractions and a 15-point deficit in the standings to win the Atlantic Division and the No. 1 seed in the East on the last day of the regular season.
Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL=Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PIM=Penalties in Minutes; Pts = Points Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.
Divisions:AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast
bold – Qualified for playoffs; z – Won conference; y – Won division
Playoffs
They easily defeated their first round opponent, the Buffalo Sabres, in five games. Primeau's goal in the fifth overtime of Game 4 against the team's second-round opponent, the Pittsburgh Penguins, turned that series in the Flyers' favor as they won in six games, coming back from a 2–0 series deficit. After dropping Game 1 to New Jersey in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Flyers peeled off three straight wins to take a 3–1 series lead. But New Jersey refused to give up. After New Jersey won Game 5, Lindros returned to the lineup for the first time since March for Game 6 in another losing effort. Early in Game 7, Lindros was on the receiving end of a hit by Scott Stevens, giving him another concussion and leaving the Philadelphia crowd deflated. Without Lindros, the Flyers lost the decisive game by a score of 2–1. To date, it is the only time (of 64 total series) a team in the Conference Finals or Semifinals round has held a 3-1 series lead and lost. It was the second time in franchise history the team lost a series after leading 3 games to 1. New Jersey went on to win the Stanley Cup.
Among the team records set during the 1999–2000 season was goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck setting the team record for consecutive shutouts (3) from October 20 to October 24, which was later tied by Ilya Bryzgalov during the 2011–12 season.[28]Eric Desjardins tied the team season record for powerplay goals by a defenseman (8) and the team set a franchise record for fewest overtime losses (3), a mark that was matched in the following two seasons.[29][30]
During the third period of game two of their conference semifinals playoff series with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Rick Tocchet set team playoff records for most penalties (5) and penalty minutes (29) in a single period, while the team’s 92 penalty minutes is also a franchise high.[31][32][33] The Flyers game four victory in the fifth overtime period is the longest in team history (152 minutes and seven seconds) and also holds the team record for most shots on goal during playoff overtime (43).[34][35] In game five, Andy Delmore’s hat trick tied an NHL record for most goals by a defenseman in a playoff game while Mark Recchi tied the team record for most assists in a playoff game (4).[36][37] The Flyers five-game road winning streak from May 2 to May 20 tied a franchise playoff record.[38] Delmore’s five goals during the playoffs is the most by a Flyers defenseman.[39]
The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from June 20, 1999, the day after the deciding game of the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 10, 2000, the day of the deciding game of the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals.[41]
^The Flyers traded Johan Hedberg to the San Jose Sharks for the Sharks' seventh-round pick, 200th overall, on August 6, 1998.[90]
^The Flyers traded their third-round pick, 90th overall, to the Calgary Flames for the rights to Ryan Bast and the Flames' eighth-round pick, 224th overall, on October 13, 1998.[90]
^"Carolina sets deadline on dealing Primeau". Tampa Bay Times. November 17, 1999. Retrieved June 5, 2022. TRADE: Nashville sent F Steve Washburn to Philadelphia for an undisclosed conditional selection in the 2001 draft.
^"Ottawa Senators transactions 1997-2003". www.hockeynut.com. Retrieved June 5, 2022. January 27... Assigned left wing Rastislav Pavlikovsky to Cincinnati of the American Hockey League.
^"Lindros expected back Thursday". UPI. January 26, 2000. Retrieved June 5, 2022. The Flyers Wednesday acquired center Todd White from the Chicago Blackhawks for a conditional pick in the 2001 draft.
^"Flyers miss out on Bourque; Veteran heads to Colorado". Pocono Record. March 6, 2000. Retrieved February 1, 2023. (Bureau)'s scheduled to make $1.1 million this year and $1.2 million next year. The Flyers will pick up part of that salary.
^"Mogilny, Barrasso Change Teams". AP NEWS. March 14, 2000. Retrieved June 5, 2022. The Thrashers then sent right wing Kirby Law to Philadelphia for Vancouver's sixth-round pick in 2000 and a conditional selection in 2001.
^ abcPanaccio, Tim (July 14, 1999). "Hart Remains In Critical Condition". Philly.com. Archived from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2022. The Flyers re-signed goaltender Neil Little to a one-year contract. They also announced the signings of minor-league free agents Dean Melanson and Jeff Tory, each also for one year.
^"Ruslan Fedotenko retires after 12 NHL seasons". NHLPA.com. October 11, 2016. Retrieved June 5, 2022. After going undrafted, he was signed as a free agent by the Philadelphia Flyers on Aug. 3, 1999.
^"NOTHING GOES RIGHT FOR CANADIENS IN LOSS TO ISLANDERS". Buffalo News. October 19, 1999. Retrieved June 5, 2022. The Philadelphia Flyers signed unrestricted free agent Ulf Samuelsson to a two-year, $4 million deal -- $1.5 million this year and $2.5 million next year -- with incentives.
^"Penguins Sign RW Dennis Bonvie". OurSports Central. August 8, 2005. Retrieved June 5, 2022. Bonvie was signed by Pittsburgh on September 20, 1999
^"Transactions". Newspapers.com. Baxter Bulletin. January 28, 2000. p. 11. Retrieved June 5, 2022. CHARLOTTE CHECKERS Acquired F 0 J. Mando, F Martin Cerven and future considerations from Trenton for G Taras Lendryk and D Dave Risk.
^ abcPanaccio, Tim (December 5, 1999). "Team Buys Out Pacts Of 3 Little-used Players". Philly.com. Archived from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2022. This weekend, the Flyers completed a buyout of three contracts, releasing left wing Roman Vopat, left wing Jason Zent and center Martin Cerven.