Does the Flyers Continued Struggles in Net Signify a Need to make a Drastic Change this Off Season?

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File & Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images

The long-standing issue with the Flyers has always been their goaltending. And this year was no different, with the trio of Samuel Ersson, Ivan Fedotov, and Aleksei Kolosov finishing the season with the league’s worst save percentage.

However, I understand that if that one stat alone doesn’t convince you that they need immediate help. So, let me break down a few more for you.

Sam Ersson

Ersson, whom the team took with their fifth-round pick back in 2018, is now 25 years old. And, after a fairly decent season last year, this Swedish goaltender was given the majority of the workload, playing in 47 games this year. The only problem with that was he finished with just 22 wins, ranking him 28th overall in the league, which, if you do the math, means that he only won 0.468% of the games he played in. And, I’m no genius or anything, but I think a big reason for his lack of W’s is that Sam finished the year letting in an average of 3.14 goals a game. A stat that ranked him 44th best in the league in that category and 50th in the league in save percentage, seeing that he stopped only .883% of the shots he faced.

But wait, it gets worse.

Ivan Fedotov

After the long-awaited debut of the Flyers’ 2015 seventh-round pick, 6’7 goalie Ivan Fedotov coming late last year. We thought it could only go up from here after he finished that season with no wins in three games played and posted a 4.95 goals-against-average (G.A.A.) and a .811 save percentage (SV%).

But as it turns out, it could. Serving as the highest-paid guardian of the blue paint on the team’s roster, making $3.25 million a season, Ivan only managed to win six games this season. It’s a stat that saw him finish 64th best in the league in that category. And that means, with him playing in a total of 26 games this season, he only won an abysmally low 0.230% of his starts this year! And, just like Ersson, I think the cause of that stems from him finishing the season 45th in the league in goals against, with him letting in 3.15 goals a game and only stopping 88.0% of the shots he faced, which saw him finish outside the top 50 netminders in that category.

Aleksei Kolosov

Then that brings us to the 23-year-old netminder who the Flyers took in the third round of the 2021 draft.

Kolosov, who played in 17 games this season for the Flyers, finished the year with an unimpressive five wins, ranking 66th overall in the league in that category, which averages out to him winning just 0.294% of the games he played in this year. And with that many losses to his credit, you shouldn’t be surprised to hear that he finished with a 3.59 G.A.A. and a .867 SV%.

This underachieving performance by these masked men has now led to Kolosov wanting to return to the KHL next season, which should be no sweat off the Flyers back.

However, the question then becomes whether the general manager Danny Briere, voicing aspirations of returning to the playoffs next season, can still be an achievable goal. And, if so, how do they go about improving this position for next season?

Well, for starters, I think they should place Ivan on waivers as soon as possible and, when no one picks him up, send him on a bus to Lehigh, just as they did this season with Cal Petersen. The move would save them a little in cap space and give them the opportunity to bring in someone else.

That’s right, I said to bring someone else because there is no way in hell I would be willing to throw their 19-year-old prospect, Carson Bjarnason, to the wolves, seeing that he hasn’t even played a single game in the American Hockey League (AHL) yet, let alone the NHL.

Option # 1: A Trade for Jet Greaves

But that, of course, will be easier said than done. With no clear-cut, immediate fixes available in free agency, if I were in Danny Briere’s shoes and had the draft capital he does, I would be calling Columbus about their 24-year-old undrafted goalie, Jet Greaves, and not take no for an answer.

Greaves, who loves to challenge the shooter and possesses an amazing glove hand, is signed through the 26-27 season for just $812,500. Jet took the NHL by storm this year, posting a 1.91 G.A.A. that he paired with a .938 SV% over 11 games played. Folks that means that he won 63% of the games he played in (two of which he was able to win by way of a shutout).

Now, I know what you’re thinking: why would the Blue Jackets ever trade a prospering kid like that? Well, might I remind you that Columbus, since its existence, has drafted from within the lottery more times than they would like to admit. And, let’s face it, Ohio isn’t exactly a preferred destination like sunny Tampa Bay or one of the Big Apple’s two franchises. So, if a player is any good, they usually end up leaving Columbus once they hit free agency.

Not to mention the fact that the Blue Jackets are stuck with their 5.4 million dollar man, Elvis Merzlikins, in net for the next two seasons, and, no, I would not try to acquire him in a deal even if the Blue Jackets retained two million dollars of his salary for the duration of his contract, Merzlikins’ numbers are no better then the guys we have now despite having, in my opinion, a much better defensive core in front of him.

So, if the Flyers are brave enough to offer them their own second-round pick back this summer in exchange for Jet, plus a conditional pick at a later date if he resigns with the Flyers, then Columbus might just be willing to make the deal.

Hey, it’s worth a shot, right?

Option # 2: Sign UFA Veteran goalie Matt Murray

Now, I know this might be an unpopular option, and believe me, I understand why, given the fact that since 2023, Murray has been labeled as injury-prone after sustaining a concussion that April, followed up by him having to miss the entire 23-24 season after having to undergo Bilateral Hip Surgery in October of that same year.

But let’s not forget that Matt is an unrestricted free agent who is only 31 years of age and is a two-type Stanley Cup champion.

And, as we all know, beggars can’t be choosers. So, if our only option is to sign a guy like Murray, then shouldn’t we be happy that he only made $875,000 this year? Oh yeah, and that he was able to lead the AHL in goals against average with a 1.72, and in save percentage with him stopping 93.4% of the shots he faced across the 21 games that he played.

So, despite all the drama that has occurred surrounding him since he chose to leave Pittsburgh for a big payday from Ottawa, the Flyers might still be wise to do their due diligence and call his agent to at least see what it would take to bring him in for a season.

And, to answer the question that is currently formulating in your mind, YES, unfortunately, the Flyers might be that despite.

Option #3: Take a chance on Unproven Youth and Sign UFA goalie Michael DiPietro.

Again, there are no good options here, but if I had to rely on free agency this summer to fill the void that will hopefully soon be made by Fedotov being placed on waivers and Kolosov deciding to pack his bags and head back home. Then I would suggest signing 25-year-old netminder Michael DiPietro.

Now, if you don’t know Michael, he is a former third-round pick of the Vancouver Canucks. Who, during his time there, was buried in the depth chart by players like Jacob Markstrom, Thatcher Demko, Spencer Martin, and Jaroslav Halak.

Seeing that Vancouver then traded him to Boston, where veterans Jeremy Swayman and Joonas Korpisalo are now ahead of him in the teams’ depth chart.

However, lucky for us, now that he is 25 years old, he is currently an unrestricted free agent, and he can now choose his own destiny. Where hopefully, in a new city, he’ll be able to get more ice time at the NHL level to showcase all the hard work he has been doing this season. A notable example of that hard work is when he won the AHL’s Best Goalie Award (The Baz-Bastien Memorial Award) for posting a 2.05 GAA, which he paired with a .927 SV% and four shutouts over the course of 40 games played. Not to mention what he did in the playoffs this year, where Michael was able to surpass those numbers by allowing only 1.85 goals per game and stopping 92.8 percent of the shots he faced.

And, with him coming off a year in which he made just $775,000, my guess is whatever team that is fortunate enough to sign him is sure to get a bargain even if they offer him a significant raise.

Still, let’s be honest: even if the Flyers decide to pull the trigger on any of the options that I suggested above, the goaltender they choose will only be able to do so much, for it has been over a quarter of a century since Ron Hextall has retired and the Flyers began this goaltender carousel of sorts. Still somehow they hold onto the idea that as long as they have at least one guy like Mark Howe, Eric Desjardins, Kimmo Timonen, or Chris Pronger on the roster, who they hire as the other five defenders that year doesn’t really matter.

And I’m here to tell you nothing could be further from the truth. When you think of some of the best teams of all time, you know, the ones who were able to build dynasties; the majority were constructed from the net out. So, to ensure your goalie does well, you have to provide him with a stable core of defensemen, not just one guy.

To achieve this, after signing or trading for a goaltender, the Flyers must sign a player like UFA defenseman Dante Fabbro in the coming weeks and draft other blueliners, such as Kashawn Aitcheson and Carter Amico, to add more depth on the back end to assist players (in the not so distant future) who are already in the team’s system like Emil Andre and Oliver Bonk.

Only then will they be successful in their efforts to return to the postseason.