PHILADELPHIA – Ever since former Philadelphia Flyers General Manager Ron Hextall made a full-on commitment to build the team through the NHL draft rather than through trades and free agency, patience became the operative word. Flyers fans do not need to be retold of the history of goaltenders that have come and gone since Hextall’s rookie season in 1987.
Ever elusive has become the chore of finding a true number one goaltender in south Philly. The orange and black just might have found their answer in net in Carter Hart, but then again Flyers fans have been down this long winding road before, and confidence is starting to wear thin among the fan base. Hart’s .905 save percentage and 3.16 Goals Against Average isn’t helping.
Today we look at our final goaltending prospects rankings in the Flyers system according to PHN for 2022. Kirill Ustimenko and Roddy Ross are no longer in the Flyers system so their current list of goaltending prospects are down to four.
Felix Sandstrom – A third round pick in 2015, the Flyers are very high on him despite his injuries last season, and he is already among the walking wounded and won’t start the season as Hart’s backup. Samuel Ersson, a 5th round pick in 2018, will most likely get the gig until further notice.
Samuel Ersson – Ersson had a solid pre-season and has turned a lot of heads since being drafted. Like Sandstrom, he is a fellow Swedish goaltender and could challenge Hart for the Starters job should Hart not make progress. Also, like Sandstrom, he needs to play the way he did in Sweden if he wants to be taken as a serious contender to Hart.
Ivan Fedotov – If it wasn’t for the war in Ukraine, Fedotov would have been the Flyers backup goalie. Despite not being able to have him for at least the next three years, don’t expect the Flyers to ignore him. Our gut feeling is once the war is over a deal will be worked out so he can come to Philadelphia.
Alexei Kolosov – A native of Belarus, Kolosov will once again be playing in Russia for Minsk Dynamo. Like Fedotov, our gut feeling is once the war the Flyers will try and make a deal so he can come to Philadelphia as well, especially if Fedotov has to spend the next three years in Russia.
Brian Jennings covers the Philadelphia Flyers for prohockeynews.com and can be found on twitter at @Flyersfan22.
You must be logged in to post a comment.