The Future Of The Flyers Goaltending Meets Present Flyers Goaltending

Back in June when Carson Bjarnson was drafted by the Flyers in the second round of the 2023 draft, he mentioned in his post-draft interview that one of his favorite goalies to watch has been current Flyers goaltender, Carter Hart. With rookie camp beginning and a large majority of the main roster guys back in town, the young goalie had the chance to not only meet Hart but according to him, also hang out with him at a recent Phillies game. While the prospect didn't go into further details about the two goalies' day out, just hearing that it even happened is nice.

After all the trade rumors, the rumors insisting Hart didn't want to be in a rebuild(despite his words to the contrary), all the rumors dragging his name into the Team Canada Investigation(in the sense that many have made the assumption he's involved without any hard proof because nothing has been revealed about anything in the investigation either criminally or at the league level yet), all the craziness surrounding the Flyers and their rebuild it's refreshing to hear a story that revolves around facts and doesn't include speculation and conclusion-jumping despite the lack of details.


Given his age and how many goalies the Flyers currently have battling to be on this year's roster, Bjarnson likely won't be around much beyond the conclusion of rookie camp; the 18-year-old will likely be sent back to his junior team before the main camp gets underway, and nobody truly knows what the future has to hold for Hart and the Flyers as a unit beyond this season; the 25-year-old is set to be an RFA after this season and given all the off-season rumors many don't believe he'll be here beyond this season, so there's no guarantee Bjarnson will get to share the ice with him in the future.


Despite all the rumors and speculation, it's certainly nice to see Hart staying professional, and proving he's still a willing member of the organization, willingly and seemingly unprompted helping the future of the organization adapt to the city and - in the not-so-formal term - mentoring the young kid during his first official NHL Camp.

Regardless of what happens beyond this season, the fact the kid got to not only meet one of his idols but also hang out with him before the opportunity potentially isn't as accessible is just plain refreshing after an off-season full of speculation and conclusion-jumping.