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When people think of Philadelphia Flyers goaltending, stability isn’t exactly the first word that comes to mind.
Lackluster. Mediocre. Embarrassing. Terrible. Dreadful. A graveyard. Those synonyms usually fit the bill more often than not.
Philadelphia has blown through backup goaltenders season after season seemingly, as they’re now on their third in three seasons between Brian Elliott, Martin Jones, and now Felix Sandström.
The starter’s situation hasn’t really been that much better. The Flyers haven’t had a consistent starter for at least four straight years since Steve Mason from 2013 to 2017 until now, as Carter Hart is set to start his fourth consecutive season opener and lead the Flyers in goal once again.
Hart, Philadelphia’s second-round selection in the 2016 NHL Draft, is looked upon by many as the savior of the franchise in goal. He dominated the Western Hockey League with the Everett Silvertips and rewrote the history books of the WHL and CHL forever, and now he’s looking to flip the script in Orange and Black as the franchise is in the midst of perhaps its darkest period it has ever seen.
Hart’s first two seasons with the Flyers were nothing short of fantastic. He was recalled in December of 2019 just after Philadelphia fired head coach Dave Hakstol after a poor first quarter of the season. The Flyers were mired in a pool of poor play and negativity, and he provided an immediate boost to a struggling team.
In the thick of the eight-goalie carousel that year, Hart stood out among the rest and compiled a 16-13-1 record, .917 SV%, and 2.83 GAA, all team-bests in the season from Hell for anyone that had to strap the pads on for Philadelphia.
Hart parlayed his impressive rookie campaign into an even more successful 2019-20 season. He posted his first NHL shutout in the home opener against the New Jersey Devils, stopping 25 of 25 shots he faced, and cruised to the tune of a 24-13-3 record, .914 SV%, and 2.42 GAA to accompany his lone clean sheet before the COVID-19 pause.
In the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs bubble, he suited up in 14 games and helped Philadelphia clinch the top seed in the Eastern Conference while leading the team to their first playoff series victory since 2012. Hart recorded a 9-4 record, a .926 SV%, 2.23 GAA, and 2 shutouts before the Flyers fell to the New York Islanders in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Hart’s 2020-21 campaign is typically one to be forgotten by fans in terms of performance and statistics, but it can be looked as a learning curve as well. He was, and still is, a young and budding goaltender in the most skilled and most popular professional hockey league in the world. Sure, an .877 SV% and 3.67 GAA while going 9-11-5 is disgusting to look at on the stat sheet, but that means he can only build up from there.
2021-22 was a step in the right direction for Hart, though there’s definitely still room for improvement. His 13-24-7 record was nothing to write home about, but a .905 SV% and 3.16 GAA are major improvements from 2021, and he can build even further on last season’s numbers should he stay healthy.
Of course, I have to mention that Hart’s name has been mentioned in the ongoing investigation of the 2018 Canadian Men’s World Junior Championship squad, in which eight players from that team were accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a hotel after a team event in London, Ontario in June of 2018.
Hart was Canada’s starting goaltender as they won the gold medal in Buffalo that year after losing the gold medal match on home soil in Montréal against Team USA the year prior.
While no players have been publicly named as perpetrators, different players from the 2018 roster have admonished themselves through their own social media accounts or through press releases via agents or lawyers. Hart’s attorney, Scott Kenton, told the Toronto Star that the goaltender did NOT participate in the attack.
Hart himself was asked about the investigation back on September 22nd and said, “I can’t really talk about it right now. I wish I could. I’m respecting the process with the NHL and fully cooperating with their investigation, but that’s all I can really say.”
For the Flyers, Hart’s innocence is a must if they want to have any semblance of success this season. While that statement is already ridiculous in the sense that this team is built for anything but success this year, more transparency and accountability are desperately needed in this awful situation as well; and that’s not just for the sake of the team if they have to make a roster decision, but for the sake of the fans as well as this is a player that has become a fan favorite and is looked at as a role model by children and as the foreseeable star in goal by everyone else.
Outside of Hart, Felix Sandström will take the reins as his backup goalie this season. After appearing in five games last season and sporting a .910 save percentage despite an 0-4-1 record, there is plenty to like about the young Swede’s abilities to provide stability behind Hart. Sandström is nursing a lower-body injury for the time being and how much game action he’ll see is unknown, but when he does suit up he’ll be sure to impress. He is a big body that moves fluidly in his crease and is usually sound positionally, and sometimes he will allow a leaky goal as every goalie does, but he will get better with time and experience.
Much like Hart, Sandström is still a young goalie finding his way in the NHL. While Hart does have 141 games of experience at this level to fall back on, his backup in the 25-year-old Gävle native seemed to fit into the Philadelphia net seamlessly last season when given the opportunity to play. That much was on display when he stopped 43 of 46 shots in his first game against the San Jose Sharks on December 30th, 2021. His performance set Flyers records for most shots faced and saved in a team debut and NHL debut, despite taking the loss in a 3-2 overtime decision.
Samuel Ersson is another name to watch out for this season, as he is still currently on the Flyers’ roster. Ersson had an incredibly impressive preseason while fighting to stay in the backup goalie race with his fellow countryman, and while he is only up with the Flyers because Sandström’s lower-body injury timeline remains murky, he is still an excellent third option to have.
Ersson only played in five games for AHL Lehigh Valley last season after being plagued with groin injuries all year, and his numbers weren’t very good either (0-3-1, .893 SV%, 2.96 GAA). However, he recorded a .910 SV% and an identical 2.96 GAA to accompany a 16-26 record with a bad SHL team in Brynäs IF in the season prior.
Ersson has the ability to be a stellar backup and even someday be a good starter in the NHL. His dominant preseason, which saw him rack up a remarkable .947 SV% and 1.43 GAA in four games, is just the tip of the iceberg for what he could bring to the team in the future or even now if the opportunity arises.
While those two goalies don’t have much NHL experience, they’ve shown flashes of their brilliance and have loads of potential, and even with their inexperience at the NHL level compared to Carter Hart, they likely have more to give than what Martin Jones provided last year, or other backups and third goalies like Brian Elliott or Michal Neuvirth or Alex Lyon in the seasons prior.
All in all, the Flyers have to feel pretty good about their goaltending situation heading into the season.
The team in front of them has a lot of work to do and probably won’t supply a ton of help for their goalies, which isn’t much fault of their own as they’re still learning new systems and gelling as a new group, but the last line of defense is currently the most exciting group to watch.
Music City Hockey Trip
Take a three day vacation to Nashville with Philly Sports Trips this October! The package includes direct flights, a three night stay at the Cambria Hotel Nashville Downtown, an all-inclusive tailgate, and tickets to the Flyers Predators game. $100 cash for anyone who shows proof they went to the Flyers game on the trip.
