Philadelphia Flyers

Will Nolan Patrick Get His Name Engraved On Stanley Cup?

Published

11 months ago

June 4, 2023

Nolan Patrick

The Florida Panthers have four former Flyers on their Stanley Cup finals roster. The Vegas Golden Knights don’t have any.

But Vegas has a former Flyer on its long term injured reserve list.

Nolan Patrick.

You remember him — the talented but often-injured Flyers winger. It’s a sad story, really, to be plagued with so many injuries.

We knew Patrick hadn’t played all season, due to injury, so we wondered if he would have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup if Vegas defeats Florida.

Probably not … almost definitely not … but it’s possible.

Cup Criteria

There is criteria for a player’s name to included on the Cup, as set forth by the NHL. For automatic inclusion, a player has to play half of the regular-season games, which would be 41, or one game in the Stanley Cup Final.

If a player was out for a significant amount of regular-season play due to injury, he would still have a chance to be included on the Cup.

In 1994, a stipulation was added to allow a team to petition the commissioner for permission to have players’ names put on the Cup if extenuating circumstances prevented them from playing, according to the NHL.

There are cases of petitions being accepted. In 1998, Red Wings defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov was included despite not playing any games. He was seriously injured the year before in an automobile accident after the Wings won the 1997 Cup.

In 2015-16, the Penguins’ Pascal Dupuis retired due to health issues after playing only 18 games. The Penguins’ petition was successful. Dupuis reportedly remained active with the team and added behind-the-scenes leadership when he could no longer play.

Another example is Jakub Jerabek in 2018. He was acquired by the Capitals near the trade deadline. He played 11 regular-season games and the first two games of the first round of the playoffs. His name is not engraved on the Cup.

Patrick’s situation is different. He didn’t play a single game this season. That would seem to automatically disqualify him but the Golden Knights could file a petition. The Golden Knights are one game closer to winning the Cup after taking Game 1 last night, 5-2.

Teams can place up to 52 names on the Cup. That includes players, coaches, management and staff.

Whether Patrick would accept such a waiver is another issue.

Patrick’s Flyers Experience

Patrick was the Flyers’ No. 2 overall pick in 2017. And like many second overall picks, he was expected to help lead the Flyers back to prominence. The Flyers missed the playoffs two of the three previous seasons before drafting Patrick.

Patrick was supposed to be the prototypical Flyer — 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, with a nose for physical play. Plus, he had a scoring touch. When he played 72 games in juniors in 2015-16, he scored 102 points.

He played 73 games as a Flyers rookie and 72 games the next season. He sat out 2019-20 with injuries and played 52 games in 2020-21.

In total, he played 197 games over four seasons for the Flyers, scoring 30 goals, 40 assists and he was a minus-37.

His career has been riddled with injuries, including concussions. He has played only 222 games over six seasons.

The Flyers traded Patrick in July 2021. They acquired defenseman Ryan Ellis from the Predators for Patrick and defenseman Philippe Myers. Patrick was traded from the Predators to the Golden Knights for Cody Glass.

Back in September, Vegas announced that Patrick would be out for the season with an upper-body injury. His last game was March 24, 2022.

In his two seasons with Vegas, he has played 25 games, scoring two goals and five assists.

Patrick will be a restricted free agent going into next season. He is young, only 24, but with a brutal injury history. His hockey future couldn’t be any more uncertain.