2023/24 Flyers Goaltending Picture Will Have Hurdles To Clear

Hart - if cleared in the investigation, or even until the results are released - is not being sent to the AHL. If he's playing hockey, it will be in the NHL, and it'll be as the starting goalie. Could a trade happen at some point? Sure, but until it does, he's the Flyers starting goalie. With that said, even if he weren't the starting goalie, he'd still require waivers to be sent to the AHL, and he would never clear because he's talented enough to be a starter somewhere. So Hart and waivers is not an option.

Felix Sandström was Hart's main backup last season, but he was less than stellar. Some of it was the defense in front, for sure. All Flyers goalies were hung out to dry on more than one occasion, but while Hart and Ersson used their skills to over come it more often than not, Sandström is not as gifted in the skill department, and his athleticism wasn't quite enough to make up for the lack of skill. At one point in the season, fans were asking why the Flyers were refusing to waive him and bring up Ersson, but the answer is fairly nuanced. What Sandström lacks in "skillset" he makes up for in athleticism, and there will be a team that has a far better defense than the Flyers that deems themselves able to make Sandström into a starting goalie. So while he's more likely than Hart to clear, he too would still most likely be snapped up on waivers by another team, and the Flyers would lose him for nothing. A trade is always possible. It just takes one GM to think they can "fix" something to make a trade work. However finding that GM for a goalie with a GAA above 3 and a save percentage below .900 and get anything worth actual value - including draft picks - is no easy task.

Cal Petersen played for the LA Kings to start last season, but quickly fell down their pecking order and found himself on the outside looking in. He was acquired by the Flyers in the Provorov trade back in early-June. The Kings did manage to sneak him through waivers last season where he played 40 games in the AHL with the Ontario Reign. So of the 3 non-exempt waiver goalies, Petersen would probably be the best candidate to try to sneak through when the time comes, but there's no guarantee it would work.

Samuel Ersson is probably the best potential Hart backup option for the Flyers, but Sandström and Petersen not being waivers exempt may be an issue because - at least for the 2023/24 season while Ersson is still on his ELC, he's exempt from waivers, making it the "easy" choice when it comes to which goalie to send to the AHL.

All that said, if the Flyers somehow find themselves with extra cap room - which is highly unlikely, especially considering Ryan Ellis will immediately be placed on LTIR, cutting into the amount of cap space the team will be able to "save", but for arguments sake let's just say somehow they're able to acquire extra cap room, it's possible they could carry 3 goalies and make Ersson the main backup.

However, it doesn't totally clear up the question, it just changes it a little bit. Instead of "who's the backup?" it becomes "who's the backups, backup?" Sandström or Petersen. And then of course, playing time becomes an issue.

To be fair, teams would much rather have the "playing time issue" than a "I don't have a backup issue", so it's a "good problem" to have, but no less annoying.

To top it all off, it's no secret Tortorella has his favorites, and while he will always tell you he knows nothing about the goaltending position, it's clear that despite that he appears to favor Hart and Ersson. Waivers will no doubt be an issue to getting to his clearly preferred tandem. Pre-season will be a battle of the backups in the crease, and for that reason alone it may be interesting to see just how things shake out. I wouldn't be surprised if Hart only gets half a game - or no games at all - in pre-season while Tortorella and company work their way to figuring out who the backup will be.(It's worth remembering that Hart played no pre-season games out of injury precaution last season, and then proceeded to have one of his best - if not his best - season's to date, so perhaps no pre-season is actually a blessing in disguise where Hart is concerned.)

The biggest question may truly be: will Tortorella's preferred tandem end up being his go-to or - like the fans - will he be forced to wait it out a little longer?