Throughout the new millennium, the Philadelphia Flyers have developed a reputation as the goalie graveyard of the NHL. They’ve succeeded in short spurts with hot goaltenders, but they’ve failed to establish a long-term franchise goalie, and they’ve had plenty of drama along the way. The tide has turned in a new era for the organization under general manager (GM) Danny Briere and President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones.
“You see nowadays, more and more teams are going with a tandem, but you need two decent goalies that can help you night after night. I think we’re in a good position there if you look at what we have in the moment, what we have coming up as well. It’s pretty exciting. It’s been a while since the Flyers have had a stable of good young goalies,” Briere said during an interview with 97.5 The Fanatic in June.
Related: 5 Forgotten Flyers Goalies
The development of Carter Hart and a strong pipeline behind him might alter the perception of Philadelphia’s goalie fortunes. Entering the 2023-24 season, they have six goaltenders within the organization who could realistically make an impact at the NHL level in the near future and two draft picks that hope to climb the prospect ladder.
Carter Hart
A .908 save percentage (SV%) and a 2.94 goals against average (GAA) won’t look too flashy, but they don’t tell the story of Hart’s 2022-23 season. The recently-turned 25-year-old stood tall for a Flyers team that had trouble driving play at 5-on-5 all season. His peak performances led them through their best portions of the season, especially during their 7-3-2 start and a three-game stretch in late January and early February when he saved 102 of 105 shots he faced.
“I just think he’s in a little bit of a zone as far as his preparation and an area after games – win or lose, good or bad – that he just stays within himself. You can sense that about him, the way he carries himself. That’s what I look at in a goalie, not the technical part but how he carries himself…I think he’s been really good that way and has kept his consistencies. He’s had some really good games and some struggles, but he never changes how he goes about his business,” head coach John Tortorella said about Hart in March.
Hart finished 15th in the NHL, according to MoneyPuck, with 10.3 goals saved above expected (GSAx), considered the most comprehensive advanced metric for goaltending. While he isn’t in the top tier of NHL goalies, he has earned himself the undisputed label as the top Flyers netminder based strictly on his performance on the ice.
Hart became the center of trade rumors early in the offseason because of the expected value of a young goaltender with an established body of work in the NHL. Too much hinges on the results of the Hockey Canada investigation involving his 2018 World Junior Championship team to make definitive statements about his future, however. Players involved in the alleged crime might face discipline from the NHL, which could hypothetically impact their status for 2023-24. No NHL team will offer a substantial trade package for a player in limbo before the details of the investigation become public.
Sam Ersson
The Flyers locked up 23-year-old Sam Ersson to a two-year contract worth $1.45 million in average annual value (AAV) on on Aug. 5. Their willingness to entertain trade offers for Hart stemmed from their confidence in the young Swede waiting in the wings. Ersson’s final NHL SV% and GAA in 2022-23 were underwhelming. However, he finished with 1.7 GSAx, a positive formula rating above the baseline of 0 set for an average NHL goaltender.
The real appeal came during his hot streak in December and January. After a rough night in relief in his NHL debut on Dec. 23, he caught fire through the end of a seven-game stretch before returning to the American Hockey League (AHL) on Jan. 20. His 5-0-0 record and 4.2 GSAx didn’t prevent the demotion. Tortorella begrudgingly accepted a decision made primarily as a way to avoid placing Felix Sandstrom on waivers.
“I think he has an arrogance, the right type of swagger for a goalie,” the Philadelphia head coach later said about the way Ersson approaches his job between the pipes.
Tortorella’s praise carries weight in the organization. His willingness to compliment Ersson so strongly and the willingness to consider offers for Hart toward the beginning of the offseason indicate a high level of confidence internally. Expect to see Ersson on the NHL roster on opening night, as a backup if Hart is with the Flyers or as a starter if Hart is unavailable.
Cal Petersen
The Flyers acquired Cal Petersen from the Los Angeles Kings as part of the three-team trade that sent Ivan Provorov to the Columbus Blue Jackets in June. The flexibility for Briere to absorb the salary of Petersen and defenseman Sean Walker added to the draft compensation the Flyers received. The appeal of the acquisition was not the use of a 28-year-old who spent most of last season in the AHL.
Petersen will enter the final year of his contract in 2023-24 with a $5 million cap hit. The steep number means the Flyers will most likely be able to pass him up and down from the minors if necessary without another team claiming him off waivers. A goaltender with 94 career NHL starts in the organization might not be such a bad thing for one season, but Petersen isn’t likely to stay in Philadelphia beyond 2024.
The organization would certainly favor Ersson over Petersen as the primary backup if Hart remains in Philadelphia, and they could possibly prioritize Sandstrom as the third option. Petersen had a worse SV% and GAA than Sandstrom in 10 NHL games in 2022-23. The former Kings backup also allowed -1.027 GSAx per 60 minutes played, more than any NHL goalie who appeared in three or more games.
Felix Sandstrom
Sandstrom didn’t step into the best situations to succeed in his first extended NHL action in 2022-23. Tortorella used Hart as the primary workhorse, and Sandstrom played frequently on backs to backs with tired legs defending his crease. The circumstances unquestionably impacted a brutal 3-12-3 record on the season.
“We need another save,” Tortorella said about Sandstrom just two days after the Flyers chose to send Ersson back to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in January. “That’s the next step for him. Now, I’m not sure if that happens. He’s going to get the opportunity, but he needs to make the next save. I think you’ll see him in the win column more (if he does).”
Tortorella spoke more positively about Sandstrom at points later in the season. However, his -11.6 GSAx in 20 games means he allowed one extra goal above the baseline in over half of his appearances. The Flyers sped through eight starting goalies in an outrageous chain of events in 2018-19, so they don’t want to throw away any netminder with considerable NHL experience. However, they shouldn’t have expectations for Sandstrom as anything more than a depth piece if he hasn’t developed yet over eight years after they drafted him.
Alexei Kolosov
The Flyers selected Kolosov in the third round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft as an overage prospect who looked closer to being prepared for the NHL than most draft-eligible netminders. The development looks like it’s on track, as Bill Meltzer called the Belarusian a top-10 NHL goaltending prospect. The Flyers signed Kolosov to a three-year, entry-level contract on July 9 and quickly leant him to Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) for the 2023-24 season.
Kolosov has already started 76 regular-season and playoff games in the KHL, widely acknowledged as the second-best hockey league in the world. Foreign goaltending prospects sometime prefer to play in professional leagues overseas rather than the AHL. The goaltending depth in Philadelphia doesn’t leave much room for Kolosov immediately, but the Flyers are sitting on a potential hidden gem.
Ivan Fedotov
Russian goaltender Ivan Fedotov hoped to join the Flyers for the 2022-23 season as Hart’s primary backup. Things went sideward thanks to a messy situation in world politics. The IIHF recently concluded that Fedotov’s contract with the Flyers is valid for 2023-24. While the Flyers just received good news about an Olympic silver medalist in the prime years of his career, the story doesn’t end there.
Fedotov faces an IIHF suspension that will keep him out of action before Jan. 1. The likelihood that his contract situation, emigration to the United States, adjustment to the North American game after a full season away from hockey, and contention for a roster spot all go smoothly simply isn’t high. Flyers fans shouldn’t hold the expectation to see Fedotov in orange and black, as unfortunate as the circumstances are for the player.
The Flyers unexpectedly drafted goaltenders in the second and third rounds of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft to add to their already deep pool. Carson Bjarnason of the Brandon Wheat Kings went 51st overall, and 17-year-old Russian Yegor Zavragin went 87th. The front office insisted that the picks have nothing to do with the organization’s opinion of Hart or any other NHL-ready goaltenders. However, they’re happy to see that a position of weakness in Philadelphia might’ve suddenly turned into a strength.