The 2023-24 NHL season is quickly approaching and for most organizations, their projected rosters for the season is set in stone. And then there’s the Philadelphia Flyers. They’re entering the season with a pair of large question marks in net, though it’s not through their own doing this time. The fates of goaltenders Carter Hart and Ivan Fedotov are not clear at the moment and it poses an issue of what exactly the team is dealing with when all the dust settles.
Carter Hart, who just turned 25, is entering his sixth NHL season. Despite relatively pedestrian numbers over the last few seasons (.907 save percentage and 2.94 goals against average in 2022-23), it primarily reflects the atrocious state of the team rather than Hart’s play itself. He’s still the guy that’s going to see the lion’s share of starts in the NHL.
Now the elephant in the room is the ongoing 2018 Team Canada investigation, whom Hart may or may not be a part of. The investigation is expected to conclude sooner rather than later and names of the players are expected to be released. While the consequences of their actions and the punishments remain a bit unclear, if Hart is named, the Flyers are going to be without their starter for an undetermined amount of time. Maybe forever.
On the flip side, if he’s not named and cleared to continue his career, the Flyers still have a massive decision in front of them. His three-year, $11.9 million contract expires during the 2024 offseason and he’ll be a restricted free agent. With Sam Ersson knocking on the door and Alexei Kolosov signing his entry-level deal with an ETA of 2024-25, do the Flyers sign Hart or trade his rights and go in a new direction?
If Hart is free to keep playing, the Flyers probably don’t get rid of Hart. Even with some promise in the pipeline behind him, ejecting Hart and rolling with someone like Ersson is a MAJOR gamble that just isn’t worth it unless they’re 100% sure whoever fills Hart’s shoes can maintain a high level of play. This organization doesn’t need a Sergei Bobrovsky 2.0 deal on their hands.
And then there’s Ivan Fedotov.
The 26-year-old Russian has been one quite the rollercoaster ride over the last 12 months and the saga isn’t over yet. After an arbitration case from the IIHF, it was determined his contract with the Flyers he originally signed in May of 2022 is still valid after being tolled to this season after Fedotov was abducted by the Russian military last summer and unable to come to North America because of it.
The KHL and RIHF are expected to appeal the decision, dragging out the result even longer. So even though the Flyers were awarded his rights, it doesn’t mean he has to come to North America. there’s still no finality as to whether or not Fedotov will be a Flyer this season, but at face value, it’s feeling rather unlikely despite the ruling.
Yet the uncertainty is the wildcard. Not that long ago Fedotov was considered to be one of the best goaltenders in the world and if he does somehow get to Philadelphia, could reclaim that crown and form a near-unstoppable duo with Hart.
Yet, he hasn’t played much hockey in the last calendar year, and according to CapFriendly, his contract is waiver exempt, so he could end up in the AHL if he isn’t quite ready for NHL action.
Whether he’s a Flyer is unknown. Whether his play is up to snuff is unknown. Whether there’s a long-term plan for him if both of the previous are positive in unknown. Fedotov is the quintessential wildcard right now.
Beyond those two, there are still three goaltenders within the organization who will also be fighting for ice time at the NHL level.
Sam Ersson, the 23-year-old Swede who played his first full season in North America in 2022-23, missed almost the entire 2021-22 season after injury and subsequent surgery, but hopped right back into the limelight playing a total of 57 games between the Phantoms, AHL playoffs and the Flyers last season. His play ranged from spectacular to sub-par and finished with a .900 save percentage through 42 AHL contests and a .899 save percentage in 12 NHL appearances.
He is perceived to be the long-term challenger to Carter Hart’s starting gig, but his results from 2022-23 left a bit to be desired before being coronated the next starting goaltender. Chances are, he ends up in the AHL for the 2023-24 season. He’ll be tasked with evening out his game and especially the longevity factor, as the wheels completely came off towards the end of last season. He was probably tired and banged up after only playing five games in 2021-22, but if he wants to be the guy in the NHL, he can’t run out of gas at a time of year when it matters most.
Yet, if Fedotov is nowhere to be found and Hart goes away, Ersson may get thrust into the NHL starting job whether he’s ready or not. He appears to at least be able to handle the opportunity. He shouldn’t be getting blown out of the water every night despite the heavy shelling he’s guaranteed to take thanks to the shoddy defense in front of him.
There’s also 26-year-old Felix Sandstrom. He’s been in the Flyers’ system since 2019 and grabbed the NHL backup job in 2022-23. His results were rather underwhelming, posting a .880 save percentage, 3.72 goals against average and just three wins in 20 games played.
He’s probably a fine NHL backup-caliber goaltender who got fed to the wolves on an atrocious Flyers squad, but it doesn’t quite seem like he has the ceiling of a regular starting goaltender either. If Hart stays in place as the starter, it poses the question of whether it’s better that Sandstrom remain as the backup in the NHL to take a spot start every few weeks and let Sam Ersson develop with heavy playing time in the AHL for next season, or recall Ersson as the backup and place Sandstrom on waivers.
Sandstrom survived last season on the main roster despite the fact John Tortorella clearly didn’t trust the guy because the organization had no choice. They couldn’t risk putting him on waivers and losing him because they didn’t have the bodies within the organization to make up for his loss. And, depending on how the scene looks to open the 2023-24 season, it’s a card he could hold yet again. If one of both of Hart and/or Fedotov aren’t here, the Flyers may have to keep Sandstrom around for the last year of his contract, but the addition of Cal Petersen at least gives them an option of they want to look elsewhere for a backup.
Petersen, who will turn 29 shorty after the 2023-24 season kicks off in October, is best known as the backup to Jonathan Quick who put up some impressive numbers from 2018 to 2021 in relatively limited minutes, which led to a three-year, $50 million extension signed in the 2021 offseason with plans to eventually be the successor to Quick in the LA net. He then posted an .881 save percentage through 47 NHL games over the last two seasons and spent a bulk of the 2022-23 season in the AHL.
The Flyers acquired him as a cap dump, and despite the fact the Briere said he’d get a fair shake to prove himself in camp, with at least three goaltenders ahead of him on the depth chart, there doesn’t appear to be much a chance Petersen gets many minutes at any level this season unless injuries strike. He’s just here to burn through the rest of that contract while the Flyers rebuild. It wouldn’t be a surprise if they considered a buyout next summer if his play isn’t worthwhile in the minors.
Who’s in net on opening night? Hart-Fedotov? Hart-Ersson? Hart-Sandstrom? Ersson-Sandstrom? Ersson-Fedotov? It’s a game of musical chairs that the Flyers don’t have any control over at the moment. While there may be some different expectation levels depending on the duos, even the “worst case” option of Ersson and Sandstrom holding down the fort at the NHL level isn’t a bad thing. It could be a whole lot worse than that. Leave it to the Flyers to have an embarrassment of riches in net during a period in franchise history when the rest of the roster is barren of talent. Though the age does appear to be in their favor for long-term success and stability in the crease. Ersson is 23, Kolosov is 21 and even Hart is just 25. If they can create some positive building blocks, there’s no reason to believe a couple of these guys won’t be here when the team is theoretically successful again. They just need to hope things break in their favor for the better, which, at this point is still TBD.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: nhl.com / bleacherreport.com / nbcsports.com
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