On the anniversary of Carter Hart’s departure, Flyers don’t rule out his return as they develop his replacements

It’s been a year since franchise goaltender Carter Hart left the Flyers ahead of being charged with sexual assault in Canada, along with four other members of the 2018 Canadian World Junior team. The latest reports and league sources place him in his home province of Alberta, having been denied entry to the United States in September as he attempted to move to Tennessee to keep his skills sharp while he awaits trial in April in London, Ontario, the site of the alleged assault.

The Flyers knew there was a possibility that Hart’s departure would leave the team without a starting goalie indefinitely. While his replacements have been empirically acceptable and objectively promising, they have been statistically abysmal: the trio of Sam Ersson, Ivan Fedotov, and Aleksei Kolosov has the worst combined save percentage in the NHL, at .883, and none of them ranks in the top 40. Ersson is 41st, at .892, and yes, his goals-against average is respectable, at 2.70, Fedotov and Kolosov are at 3.26 and 3.45, respectively.

» READ MORE: Hockey Canada sexual assault trial involving Carter Hart set for April

The Flyers had to see this coming. After all, they tied for last in save percentage last season, too.

“I remember last season, early in the season, we were wondering if [Ersson] could even be a backup goalie,” GM Danny Brière admitted Tuesday.

The question, then: A year removed from Hart’s removal, did Brière and the Flyers adequately prepare for his absence?

Are things as bad as they seem? Not quite. The Flyers are in the second season of a comprehensive, disciplined rebuild, and their team defense often, understandably, reflects that. The team’s penalty kill, a real strength last season, regressing from No. 4 to No. 19 in the league hasn’t helped either.

Further, the goaltending is improving. Ersson is 14-7-2 overall, and he’s won despite dealing with a lower-body injury in three separate stints. He’s 5-0 with a 1.58 GAA and a .930 save percentage over his last five games. Over the past three weeks, Fedotov has surged past Kosolov.

Brière defended the club’s plan regarding the uncertainty of Hart’s future, both a year ago and today. Hart’s case is expected to last around two months, and if he were cleared, it might be in time for him to potentially join the free-agent pool. If he is free to return to the NHL, Brière said Hart might wind up back in Philadelphia.

“We didn’t know, and we don’t know still to this day,” Brière told The Inquirer this week. “I know he’s a free agent, but what’s going to happen [moving] forward? Does Carter want to come back to Philadelphia? Would we be allowed to do that?”

Excellent question: If acquitted, or if convicted with a minor sentence, would Hart face a suspension from the NHL, or would he be allowed to immediately return to action? Another question: How would the public, and Philadelphia in particular, respond to the return of a player accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room with several other men?

When contacted by The Inquirer this week, an NHL spokesperson said the league was not in a position to address Hart’s future.

» READ MORE: Hayes" Has Carter Hart played his last game for the Flyers? It should be.

Clearly, the Flyers have considered the possibility of Hart returning. How closely have they been following Hart’s absence?

When asked if the Flyers have been in touch with Hart, Brière declined to comment. The league said the Flyers were under no restrictions from contacting Hart.

At any rate, Brière, coach John Tortorella, and other Flyers brass believe they did their best, all things considered. They’re probably right.

They weren’t sure if or when Hart would be removed from the team, but he was a restricted free agent whom they could tender and retain past last season, so it made little sense to pursue another No. 1 goaltender, especially since the team expected a slow rebuilding process.

Similarly, trading valuable young assets and draft picks for a top-flight backstop, as the New Jersey Devils did to get Jacob Markström and the Ottawa Senators did to get Linus Ullmark this offseason, would have been irresponsible for a developing team at the beginning of a rebuild. Neither would have fit the team’s age timeline either, as Markström turns 35 this month while Ullmark is approaching 32.

“We wanted to see what we had, as far as the goalie stable,” Brière said.

Well, Ersson, who is 25, might develop into a passable starter if he’s not used too much.

“Lately, Ersson is really taking a step,” Brière told reporters Tuesday. “He was up-and-down earlier. But Sam Ersson, to me, strikes me as a goalie that, when he starts to feel it, when he starts to feel comfortable, he gets better and better. So, I’ve been pleased with him, especially lately.”

Fedotov, 28, is a 6-foot-7 Russian whose long and complicated journey to Philadelphia culminated in his arrival last March. He began this season as Ersson’s backup but, after a disastrous start, he lost the job to Kolosov, a 23-year-old rookie from Belarus. Fedotov has since regained Tortorella’s favor, leading the team to loan Kolosov to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Wednesday.

“It’s not ideal having three goalies, we realize that,” Brière told reporters Tuesday.

They have more than that in the pipeline.

In the 2023 draft, they took Carson Bjarnason in the second round and Egor Zavragin in the third round. Both are now 19. Bjarnason is playing for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Canadian Hockey League. Zavragin is already starting for Russia’s SKA St. Petersburg in the Kontinental Hockey League.

Why stock up on goalie prospects? Because, said Brière, aside from Hart’s pending legal issues, the Flyers didn’t control him forever; he could have become a free agent after the 2024-25 season.

“It’s not just [the legal issues],” Brière told The Inquirer. “I mean, you know, you come to a point where he’s getting closer to free agency, and, you know, [what] does he want?

“I mean, there’s a reason why we drafted two goalies back-to-back a couple years ago,” Brière said. “We wanted to prepare the future there.”

The future is now, and, it appears, the Flyers have done the best they can responsibly do. With Ersson and Fedotov they’ve won five of their last six games, stand at 22-20-6, and are two points out of a wild-card spot 48 games into the season.

Nothing has been decided, but things are looking decent.

And, apparently, there’s always the chance that Hart could return to Philadelphia.

“So, there’s still a lot of juggling, you know, going on,” Brière told The Inquirer. “And, in the meantime, it gives us the chance to see what we have in Ersson and Kolosov and Fedotov.

“And that’s the way we saw it going in.”