If you are a fan under the age of 45, you haven't really seen a "great goalie" for the Flyers. Nope. Fans like me missed the Bernie Parent era and were little kids when Pelle Lindbergh tragically passed. Oh sure, we've had some good goalies like Ron Hextall, John Vanbiesbrouck, Brian Boucher, Robert Esche, Martin Biron, Ray Emery, and Sergei Bobrovsky.
Outside of Hextall, none of them lasted long, however. Some were older and past their prime (Vanbiesbrouck and Emery), or the team gave up too soon on them (Boucher and Bobrovsky), or they were injury-prone (Emery). The Flyers haven't had a goalie who's lasted for years. They haven't had that Martin Brodeur, Pekka Rinne, or Henrik Lundqvist who has been awesome in between the pipes for years and years.
With that in mind, it never hurts to restock the prospects. We have no idea how long we will see the trio of Sam Ersson, Ivan Fedotov, and Alexsei Kolosov in the net. It's going to be a while before Carson Bjarnason and Egor Zavragin will be ready. So, drafting a goalie is not a bad idea.
If the Flyers don't select Joshua Ravensbergen in the first two rounds of the draft, there is a prospect they could select in the late second round or with their third selection. His name is Aleksei Medvedev.
Medvedev hails from St. Petersburg, Russia, but lives in London, Ontario. This year, he starred for the London Knights and, with his partner in net Austin Elliott, won the Dave Pinkney Trophy, given to the goaltending duo of the team with the fewest goals against during the OHL's regular season.
He is 6'3", 180 lbs. Medvedev is also just 17 years old. That is someone young, raw, and could be shaped and molded into a great goaltender.
This past season, he posted a 22-8-2 record. To go with that, he had three shutouts en route to a 2.79 GAA and a save percentage of .912. For a rookie in the OHL, that's impressive. A few more years in the OHL, and he could make his professional debut. But by that time, he'd be 20 and ready to face some of the best shooters in the NHL. To be honest with you, he'd probably already faced some of them in the OHL as youngsters.
The Hockey Writers say of Medvedev:
"Goaltenders can be a little tougher to read in terms of their long-term development. Early on, it seems as though Medvedev could be a goalie to watch for in the future. If he can add some size and muscle to his frame, he has the potential to be an NHLer down the road, the ‘when’ is more of a question mark. That said, if he continues to develop in the right way with the Knights and beyond that, Medvedev could become a mainstay in the NHL in the next five or six seasons."
For this draft, it is key for the Flyers to find a center and a defender. If they can find a nice left wing to complement the glut at right wing, awesome! A goalie may not be high up on their wishlist. However, it doesn't hurt to think long-term. If Medvedev could be ready in three years, he could become a solid tandem goalie with Bjarnason or whomever is in net by then. He may be ready to take the job over himself. At that time, he would also be reunited with his teammates Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk.
Sometimes the best thing to do in a draft is not to think of immediate needs. Sometimes it is to envision what you might need in a few years. This is one of those kinds of selections, and it should not be wasted.