The Flyers goaltending situation has been anything but dependable in years past. Then Carter Hart entered the picture and things were looking much better. However, Hart has shown some injury issues, and in his absence it has been an endless parade of free agent goalies and emergency signings.
But this season was different, in that the Flyers had not one but two viable options as backup goalie. While Felix Sandstrom struggled for most of his games, Sam Ersson was a pleasant surprise for the team and the fans this year. John Tortorella voiced his displeasure with Sandstrom at times this season leaving the door wide open for Ersson to come into training camp and win the backup job.
The numbers for Sam Ersson do not really jump off the page, and yes they are below league average. But getting a taste of his first NHL action, playing behind a very bad team, his numbers give me some confidence going forward in his career. In 42 AHL games he boasted a similar save percentage but a better goals against average, showing what can happen when he plays in front of a more defensively sound team.
Shockingly, Ersson ranks second among all goalies from the 2018 draft in wins with his six. Now we can argue whether that says more about him or the lack of goaltending talent in that draft, but the point stands true. Now I’m not saying that Ersson will end up being the best goalie from his draft, however he hasn’t shown any reason to believe he couldn’t be.
Three Questions
Did they live up to expectations?
I would say that expectations for Ersson were pretty low coming into this season. Whether it was because of the Ivan Fedotov news, the buzz surrounding Felix Sandstrom, or just the overall feeling that Carter Hart is the teams #1 goalie for the foreseeable future, it just didn’t seem like people were as excited about Ersson. With that, I think its fair to say that Ersson definitely exceeded expectations this season.
What can we expect from next season?
Change is definitely coming for the Flyers in all positions, and goalie is no exception. It will be interesting to see what route the Flyers take this offseason as far as whether they choose to move one of their three goalies, or keep all and have a trio of solid goalies in their system for maybe the first time ever. Personally, I expect him to take the spot as backup goalie when next season rolls around. I think Ersson got a taste of being an NHL goalie and is not ready to give that up yet. Couple this with, the experience he got from the previous season, an offseason to train, and it being a contract year, and I expect big things from Sam Ersson next season.
How do we grade their 2022-23 season?
The first thing that comes to mind when I think about Ersson’s season is his first game of the season, also his NHL debut. While playing on the road against the Hurricanes, Ersson allowed a goal on his first NHL shot ever faced. Things did not get better as he was later pulled after allowing 5 goals on 22 shots. However, he was forced back in after an injury to Carter Hart and settled in very nicely to the game. While Ersson and the team still lost the game 6-5, it gave a small glimpse into the mindset of the young goalie.
After that loss, he would go on to get credit for a win in his next six games. Its obvious his talent level and mechanics are good, but I loved what I saw from Ersson mentally this year. It was a great first season for the netminder and I expect more of what we saw in the 2023-24 campaign.
Grade- B
