I’ve said this in previous mocks, and I’ll repeat it again, Philadelphia needs to add at least one goaltender when this draft is said and done. Carter Hart is already the Flyers starter, and Felix Sandstrom and Kirill Ustimenko are set for AHL and ECHL action, as well. There isn’t a lot of depth behind Samuel Ersson and Ivan Fedotov, and with Matej Tomek struggling in the NCAA, grabbing another net-minder would be huge for the Flyers system.
In comes Colten Ellis. The 6’1, 183-pound goalie is coming off another satisfactory season in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, posting 2.47 Goals-Against Average (GAA) with a .910 save percentage (SVS%) in 46 games with Rimouski Océanic this past year. While this was a slight drop from his rookie campaign with the club, he did make significant strides in the postseason with a 2.39 GAA and .935 SVS% in 12 playoff games, helping Rimouski reach the semifinals where they were unfortunately swept by the 2019 Memorial Cup winning Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. This was a vast improvement over the 3.12 GAA, and .885 save percentage he had in his first QMJHL playoff run, showing the development he can make when given the time.
Ellis is good at tracking the play that’s in front of him and hardly catches himself out of position for that reason. He possesses adequate side-to-side movement, so when a team does find a way to force him to make a tough save, he’ll be there more often than not with his quickness. The Canadian goaltender also boasts a high amount of aggressiveness while between the pipes, which can sometimes be to a fault as he’ll get too caught up in a play.
The Nova Scotia native is still raw as you could see in the series against Rouyn-Noranda and has aspects of his game he could improve upon like rebound control, but the Flyers have the time to let him develop, making Ellis an almost perfect later-round goaltending option for them in this draft.