The Philadelphia Flyers are in the midst of a four-game winning streak, their first one in almost two calendar years dating back to the 2020-21 season. A large reason for that recent success is the play of rookie goaltender Samuel Ersson.
The 23-year-old Falun, Sweden native has seemingly come out of nowhere to breathe new life into the Flyers. Ersson made his NHL debut on December 23rd against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, where he was rather unimpressive after letting up 5 goals on 30 shots and was actually pulled from the Flyers’ net by John Tortorella, only to return after Carter Hart suffered a concussion later in the game.
After putting that game behind him, Ersson rattled off three wins in a row during Philadelphia’s road trip against the California teams. It was the first time the Flyers had ever swept the Kings, Ducks, and Sharks on the road in the same season, and Ersson stopped 80 of 86 shots between the three games, registering a .930 SV% and 2.00 GAA to accompany his three wins.
Ersson’s newfound success has put the Flyers in a bit of a goaltending pickle – a good problem to have when each goalie is playing well. While Carter Hart is the clear number-one option and took back his rightful place as the starter in Thursday’s 6-2 blowout win over Arizona, Ersson and fellow Swede Felix Sandström seem to be battling to stick around as Hart’s backup.
Sandström, who served as Ersson’s backup for the three California road games while Hart was injured, was loaned to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms on a conditioning stint Thursday morning after not appearing in a game since December 13th against Colorado.
Sandström is not waiver-exempt while Ersson is, meaning that if the Flyers wished to just simply send Sandström down to the Phantoms, he would have to clear waivers and risk losing him to a team that puts in a claim. The conditioning assignment was simply a way for Sandström to get some game action in while temporarily avoiding the waivers issue. Ersson could simply be sent down without any problems, but with how well he’s been playing, it would be silly to send him down right now.
Sandström has played relatively well despite what his peripheral statistics may show, and he has helped give the Flyers a chance to win in almost every game he has played in. He recorded his first, and to date, only NHL win back on November 8th against St. Louis, which is the lone victory in a 1-6-1 record this season to go along with an .888 SV% and 3.37 GAA. However in the seven losses Sandström has suffered, the Flyers have only scored 12 total goals to give him an average of 1.71 goals per game in support, leaving him with a very slim margin for error when he takes the crease.
Among a few of those games, the Flyers were shut out on October 23rd against San Jose, only scored once on November 13th against Dallas, and they put up a handful of two-goal games in blowout losses while allowing almost 31 shots per game to reach Sandström in those seven losing efforts.
Sandström has played in two AHL contests since beginning his conditioning stint and has been relatively good. He currently has a pair of 24-save performances in consecutive road games, a 3-2 victory over Rochester and a 5-4 shootout loss to Toronto. The 25-year-old Gävle, Sweden native maintains a 2.88 GAA and .889 SV% with his 1-0-1 record in the AHL and is getting his legs back under him after not playing in almost a month.
When Sandström comes back to Philadelphia after his conditioning assignment is over, Ersson will likely be sent down, but the Flyers know they have something special in him and as long as Ersson keeps up his strong play, Chuck Fletcher and co. will be itching to keep him with the big club.
One thing with Ersson is that the biggest caveat for his development is playing time. He missed virtually all of last season with groin injuries that required surgery, and this season for him is all about playing games and gaining experience. While Hart is the starter, Ersson should still be seeing a solid amount of game action with the Flyers while he is still there if getting him game time is the goal, and the upcoming back-to-back set against Toronto and Buffalo is a perfect opportunity for him to play again. If he doesn’t stay and is sent to Lehigh Valley to garner more experience afterwards, which is likely to happen, then that’s perfectly fine, but if he puts on another clinic against the Sabres on Monday should he start, it will really get the attention of the Philadelphia brass.
So what will come next should Ersson somehow continue to light the world on fire before Sandström returns? If the Flyers keep winning games and Ersson remains a major factor in the equation as to why they’re winning, Sandström could find himself as the odd man out – if he hasn’t already.
There will definitely be a market for goaltenders as we approach the trade deadline, and if the Flyers are worried about Sandström not clearing waivers, maybe they can get something out of his value via trade. He’d be a strong third goaltender that could back up or start a game in a pinch, and you can never have enough goalies in the playoffs. That’s not for me to say the Flyers should trade Sandström, but it’s an option that is likely worth exploring in the near future.
The Flyers won’t roll with three goaltenders for the season, especially when both Ersson and Sandström need ample playing time to further their games. They are still both young goaltenders finding their way in the NHL, but Ersson seems to have risen to the occasion in a more comfortable and dominant manner than Sandström. That being said, Sandström backing up in Philadelphia and Ersson tearing it up with Lehigh Valley seems like the most likely outcome to this situation for the time being.
However, Ersson has made his stamp on the Flyers’ season rather shrewdly, and unless Sandström can find that same level to his game – and quickly – it could potentially and abruptly spell the end of his time in Philadelphia.
