Flyers’ goalie pipeline, led by Carter Hart, has come to life

Once upon a time, Philadelphia was a goalie graveyard, a place where careers seemingly slipped away.

If you were a Flyers goalie, there was a good chance you would not leave a lasting impression, and a better chance you would not wear orange and black for long.

For every Bernie Parent, Pelle Lindbergh (whose career was cut short by his tragic death) or Ron Hextall, there have been dozens of goalie disappointments since the Flyers started in 1967-68, and when they did finally find another goaltender with elite potential, they traded him away in arguably the worst deal in franchise history.

But the sting of the 2012 trade that sent Sergei Bobrovsky to Columbus might finally be subsiding, because the Flyers have an impressive goalie pipeline.

Carter Hart. Felix Sandstrom. Samuel Ersson. Kirill Ustimenko.

Those four goalies — all drafted by former general manager Hextall and his sidekick, Chris Pryor — are young and talented and making impressive strides.

“I think goaltending was obviously a priority and a focus for the group a few years ago, and they did a really good job of drafting, from Carter Hart down," said Brent Flahr, a first-year Flyers assistant general manager and vice president, who oversees the organization’s player development.

“Now we have a number of quality prospects, and each of them will take some time to develop. Maybe some won’t get there, but we’re pretty confident one or a couple will make it and give us good depth and good goaltending moving forward.”

Hart, of course, is the most advanced of the quartet. He burst into the NHL last season and equaled a league record for most consecutive wins (eight) while younger than 21. He finished his rookie season with a 16-13-1 record, a 2.83 goals-against record, and an impressive .917 save percentage.

The Alberta native, selected in the second round (48th overall) of the 2016 draft, will be counted upon to do the heavy lifting for the Flyers in 2019-20.

On paper, Hart has a great chance to become the first Flyers goalie to play in more than half their games for more than four straight seasons. (An injury prevented the great Parent from doing it.)

Down the road, Hart could have some competition. Sandstrom, 22, is ticketed to spend his first season with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms in 2019-20. The 6-foot-2, 192-pound Swede, a third-round selection in the 2015 draft, had a 2.16 GAA and .910 save percentage while playing professionally last season in Sweden. He missed a good chunk of the season because of a hiatal hernia.

Sandstrom, who was named the best goaltender in the World Junior Championships as he led Sweden to a silver medal in 2016-17, will have to make an adjustment to the smaller rinks of the AHL and the more physical play in front of his net.

“Positionally, he’s sound,” Flahr said. “He’s competitive and a smart goaltender. He’s going to have to adjust to the North American game: the traffic and getting bumped into and things like that. We’ll see where he goes. Goalies take time. There aren’t a lot of Carter Harts in the world.”

Ersson’s stock, meanwhile, has risen dramatically since he was selected by the Flyers in the fifth round in 2018. Playing in Sweden’s top minor league, the 19-year-old had a 27-9 record, 1.95 goals-against average, and .933 save percentage this season. He was named the league’s rookie of the year and starred in the World Junior Championships.

Sandstrom and Ersson “are both solid prospects. They both have things to work on, but both are competitive guys who have had some success,” Flahr said. “The way Ersson played at the World Juniors was obviously a breakout, and he had a strong season. He’s in a good spot to grow.”

The 6-2, 176-pound Ersson will return to play in Sweden in 2019-20, but could be with the Phantoms the following season.

“He has a two-year deal there [in Sweden],” Flahr said, “but we could still sign him after next year and bring him over if we want to. The important thing for all these guys is to make sure they play and get minutes.”

Ustimenko, 20, is also on the rise. Chosen by the Flyers in the third round in 2017, he starred this season in Russia’s junior league (MHL), compiling a 30-12-3 record, 1.78 GAA, and .927 save percentage, and setting a league record with 12 shutouts.

The 6-3, 187-pound Belarus native signed an entry-level deal with the Flyers recently and is expected to play for their ECHL affiliate in Reading in 2019-20.

“He’s a little raw, but he‘s very athletic. Quick and competitive,” said Flahr, whose Flyers used an NHL-record eight goalies in 2018-19. “He’s talented, but technically he’s got some more work to do. He’s coming over this summer to work and he’s really focused, and our [scouts] over there are very happy with him. For the league he was playing in, he couldn’t do much more than he did.”

A look at four young goalies in the Flyers organization.

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