The woes of the Flyers this season has often laid at the feet of the goaltenders. They’ve not been good both from the eye test and the underlying metrics available — could even go as far to say they have been the worst in the NHL.
After Saturday morning’s skate, coach John Tortorella addressed the struggles Sam Ersson has had, feeling that he hasn’t been consistent enough. But also looking at the bigger picture and the tough hand Ersson was dealt as he was thrown into the top role in between the pipes. What the coach was emphatic about was the inconsistency this season has little to do with his work load, a factor Tortorella admitted to last season when Tortorella essentially ran the 25-year-old netminder into the ground during the team’s stretch drive for a playoff spot.
“Sam’s struggles have nothing to do with how much he’s played,” Tortorella said. “Sam has been inconsistent. Our goaltending has been inconsistent. Sam put together I think the end of December into the full month of January, early February, he put together a really good package of games. That’s what we’re looking for. I think with Sam, as we move forward, we’re hoping it’s going to be a tandem. We’re not going to ask Sam to play 55 or 60 games if he’s the guy. I think it’s going to be a tandem.”
Ersson would probably be the first to tell you his play hasn’t been great this season. Through 38 appearances, the Swede has an .888 save percentage and a 2.96 goals against average. However given the bigger picture of the last two seasons with the goaltending tandem the team had to begin the 2023-24 season and what they have now, it’s apparent the trio of Ersson, Ivan Fedotov, and Aleksei Kolosov haven’t hit the ground running.
It’s much the same way that Ersson’s rotating backup band-aids last season in Felix Sandstrom, Cal Petersen, and Fedotov down the stretch didn’t get it done either. But Tortorella again stated Ersson was put into a situation he clearly wasn’t ready for in January 2024. The Flyers’ former starting goalie is awaiting trial in an Ontario court next month on sexual assault charges.
“We’re still evaluating,” the coach said. “He’s been inconsistent. Sometimes you watch him play and you think he’s got it but then he falls off. It happens to a lot of goalies. That’s why some goalies just don’t play and are out of the National Hockey League. So we continue to evaluate. And we’re going to continue to do the same thing these last 15 games or so.”
When asked how he and the coaching staff balance Ersson playing a lot — which he did during his one bright spot this season after Christmas and before the 4 Nations Face-Off — and knowing when he might be getting tired, Tortorella said he relied more on goaltending coach Kim Dillabaugh to gauge Ersson’s energy level.
“It’s a different position now,” Tortorella said. “Back in the day, they played. I look at Vasilevskiy with Tampa, he just plays. I do think sometimes we overthink that. But I’m going to rely on Dilly especially with Sam because Sam has been thrusted into a spot where I just think it’s been unfair for him. This organization was set back when things changed with our goaltending situation. Especially with Sam and not allowing him to develop. He’s been force-fed a little bit here. So that’s where I rely on Dilly in letting me know where he thinks his energy level is. He can see within his game, I can’t, that he might be getting sloppy. That’s where he says we may have to go with Feds or Koly the next game.
“It’s been unfair to him. I don’t think our goaltending has been good enough, I’ve told you guys that. The numbers bear it out too. But it’s been unfair because this organization has been set on its heels in that position, the most important position, because of what happened to it. So we have to take that into consideration also.”
So, with Ersson, Fedotov and Kolosov all signed into next season it will be interesting to see how or if the Flyers try to address the situation in net. It would be very bizarre to see all three back for a three-man rotation in 2025-26 and expect the Flyers to improve to where they might be in the playoff hunt.
Whether they decide to part with Kolosov, put Fedotov in Lehigh Valley and try to sign a cheap veteran to take some pressure off Ersson remains to be seen. Of course they also have Carson Bjarnason and Yegor Zavragin hopefully looming in a few years time. While Ersson certainly hasn’t been excellent, he’s probably the best of a rather bad bunch through the first 66 games of the regular season. That bunch has to improve if the Flyers’ rebuild is to take the next steps. Otherwise you might see a completely new crop in Philadelphia two seasons from now.