Carter Hart no longer appears to be in Flyers’ long-term plans

The Philadelphia Flyers went out of their way Saturday afternoon to re-sign goalie Sam Ersson rather early, and that’s starting to feel like less and less of a coincidence. Carter Hart started the offseason as the butt of trade rumors, which eventually cooled down, but that’s about to change in short order.

The 23 year old Ersson isn’t a young prospect anymore, either. He’ll turn 24 not long after opening night, and is just one year younger than Hart. Cal Petersen could always be assigned to the AHL prior to the season, but the plan for Ersson seems to be that he’ll play, and play a lot. The Flyers will have both the Swede and Petersen for at least the next two years, whilst Hart is under contract for just this season.

Aside from the Flyers stockpiling a ton of goaltending prospects and giving the Ersson the green light to play in the NHL, the looming Hockey Canada investigation results are also plaguing Hart’s future in Philly. St. Louis Blues reporter Andy Strickland had previously shared that that five players will ‘likely’ receive suspensions for their involvement in the 2018 Hockey Canada sexual assault case. If Hart happens to get suspended, which I am not saying he will or will not, his time with the Flyers can be considered to be over. If Hart does not get suspended, he might get traded anyway.

It’s also important to remember that a few weeks ago, it was a big deal that the Flyers were able to secure the signature of their 2021 third-round pick Alexei Kolosov. The 21 year old will still spend the 2023-24 season with Dinamo Minsk in the KHL, but is expected to come over to North America next year. Factoring in Kolosov, alongside Ersson and Petersen, means that there is essentially no more room for Hart in the Flyers organization, and that writing has been on the wall for weeks.

Plus, given the Flyers’ current timeline and state of their roster, they would be best served to move on from Hart one way or another. The 24 year old could fetch some serious assets from a goalie-needy team, especially on a cheap, team-controlled deal. Sure, Hart only has a year left on his contract, but unless something serious happens it’s likely that any team moving for him will offer him an extension.

Lastly, it’s especially important for the Flyers that they identify the backbone of their team in the long-term. Hart’s last good, or above-average, season was in 2019-20. It goes without saying that the Flyers have struggled in the years since then, but that is still three full seasons ago. The great goalies still put up good numbers on bad teams. It’s very difficult to argue that Hart is a great goalie.

The Flyers are better off converting Hart into assets to build a great team, instead.