A goalie problem for the Flyers seems to be brewing

No doubt Carter Hart is the goalie of the future for this franchise. Hart has been the main reason why this club was in so many of the games they were. Hart started the year off hot and continued to play confidently and poised like the pro he is. Hart has bounced back in the best possible way. If this team was much better and could have won a lot more games than they had,

Hart is having one of his best seasons so far and it is being wasted, unfortunately. If the Flyers could have scored 2 more goals a game, things could be different. While not every goal is on Hart, some are. With 840 Shots Against in 27 games, Hart is poised to surpass all of his prior seasons with shots he has seen. What’s impressive is Hart’s GAA of 2.89, SV% of .911 and half of his 26 starts all being quality starts is impressive after last season’s debacle of a season.

At 10-11-6 is not bad either considering the Flyers’ overall record.

When Hart is making plays like this, this team is hard to beat. His positioning, drive and willingness to battle down until the last second of every game is something we didn’t see last year, but Hart also didn’t have a coach like the one he has this season. Torts has done wonders for Hart’s confidence and has rewarded Torts for doing such. As long as this team can continue to grow and get better, Hart should want to stay around for a long time.

Flyers: Felix Sandstrom

The 25-year-old Swedish goalie has waited since 2018-2019 for a chance to play in the NHL. Sandstrom just hasn’t had a great time in the NHL. Sandstrom has played 9 games this season and is 1-6-1. Sandstrom played in 5 games last season and went 0-4-1. While not all of the losses have been Sandstrom’s fault, he hasn’t helped himself much either. When looking at his game logs, he just hasn’t done enough to keep this team in it to win.

Sandstrom isn’t Hart and it’s clear to see. At 25, Sandstrom seems to be a fringe starter at best. Maybe on a better team, he can be better, but his play is reminiscent of Anthony Stolarz. A good goalie who can start when needed but serves better as a backup. With an SV% of .888 and GAA of 3.37, Sandstrom could potentially find himself on the outside looking in sooner than later.

Sandstrom most likely won’t go on waivers as he is still a valuable asset to trade to a team who wants a project goalie. If Ersson continues to play as well as he has, the Flyers could ultimately move Sandstrom at the deadline and go with a power tandem of Ersson and Hart.

Flyers: Samuel Ersson

Ersson has been nothing but impressive since his first start. While Ersson was thrown to the wolves against the Carolina Hurricanes in his first start. After he re-entered the game due to Hart’s injury, Ersson seemed like a new player. Ersson has taken his chance to solidify his standings with the franchise and Torts and hasn’t looked back. Ersson is definitely making a difficult choice for Torts to make when it comes time.

In 4 games in the NHL, Ersson is 3-1-0. Ersson has given up 11 goals this season but 5 of those 11 came against the Hurricanes. His positioning, poise and ability to fight for each and every save have taken him to another level that Sandstrom hasn’t exactly gotten to yet. With an SV% of .901 and GAA of 2.90 is amazing for the 23-year-old who spent the majority of this season in the AHL.

With a GAA of 2.72 and SV% of .910 in 18 games with Lehigh, Ersson has been impressive. If the Flyers choose to send Ersson back to give Sandstrom an extended look, then it would be good for Ersson’s confidence to know that he will be back in the NHL sooner than later and that he is only sent back down to Lehigh in order to get more minutes.  Regardless of what happens, this is a really good situation for the Flyers to be in and could help them speed this rebuild up.