Few players during the 1980s were as consistent as Propp, who scored 425 goals and 1,004 points in 1,016 games during a 15-season NHL career.

The first came after a 34-goal, 75-point season as a rookie with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1979-80. Propp was plus-45 for the Flyers, who went 35 games without a defeat (25 wins, 10 ties) but lost to the New York Islanders in the Cup Final.

He averaged more than 40 goals during a span of five seasons from 1981-82 through 1985-86. That included 43 in 1984-85, when the Flyers won the opener of the Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers, only to lose the next four games.

The Oilers defeated the Flyers again in the 1987 Cup Final, this time in seven games, despite Propp's best postseason showing; he had 12 goals and 28 points in 26 games.

Propp received another chance at a championship after the Flyers traded him to the Boston Bruins on March 2, 1990. He scored three goals and 12 points in 14 regular-season games with Boston, then had 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in the playoffs, but the Bruins lost the Cup Final to the Oilers in five games.

Former Flyers teammate Bobby Clarke, who had traded him away before being fired as general manager, became GM of the Minnesota North Stars and signed Propp as a free agent on July 25, 1990. Propp had his best offensive season since 1988-89, scoring 26 goals and 73 points. He then scored eight goals and 23 points in 23 playoff games, and Minnesota advanced to the Cup Final before losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games.

It was fifth time Propp played in the Stanley Cup Final; he lost each time.

Propp played two more seasons with the North Stars and one with the Hartford Whalers before retiring in 1994, but not before reaching 1,000 career points on March 19, 1994, with a goal against the Flyers.