The Flyers finally pull the trigger on a long awaited move

The Flyers have finally officially decided their goaltending tandem for the 2023/24 season will be Carter Hart/Sam Ersson.

Technically, John Tortorella announced this was the tandem in the beginning of the season, but the Flyers continued to carry three goalies.

Until now, that is.

After Samuel Ersson came up in December 2022 and proved himself capable enough of being a backup in the NHL, Flyers fans have been begging for the Flyers to waive Felix Sandström. It seemed the Flyers brass were nervous about doing so for some unknown reason because they avoided doing it for numerous months; including the first nearly-two months of this season.


Chances are his stats (3.72GGA, .880 Sv%, and only 3 career NHL wins) dating back to last season aren't good enough to allow the Flyers to acquire anything in any trade. His injury history is also not going to be a positive driver in a trade scenario. For instance, while on his most recent conditioning stint a couple of weeks back, he was injured in just his second AHL start of the season, forcing the Flyers to end the conditioning stint and place him on IR.

It's unlikely he will get claimed by any other teams, but there is a reason the Flyers have been so hesitant to make this move before now. Could this mean a team has shown interest? Maybe. But if that were the case, how come the Flyers didn't attempt to work out a low-level trade (like, for instance, a deal that brings back a late-round draft pick in an upcoming draft)?

There's also a possibility the hesitation is a direct result of the front office not knowing what was going to happen with the 2018 Team Canada Scandal that Carter Hart is currently a part of due to having been on that team. (Nothing has been proven or disproven in regards to any team members at the time of this writing.) Last week it was announced the players were filing an appeal against the law firm in charge of finding wrongdoing on the players' part. With the appeal filing, the process will continue to drag on, which may have helped the Flyers' front office decide it was a better idea to attempt to send the goalie down to get him a ton more playing time, alongside Cal Petersen, while they await word on the Team Canada outcome which may not come for another several months.

We'll find out tomorrow if Sandström clears. If he does, he'll report to the Phantoms to get playing time and be a potential option should more injury issues arise with the Flyers goalies.