On January 23rd, 2024, 24-year-old Samuel Ersson was skating into the crease for the Philadelphia Flyers as they prepared to face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He lost to the Senators only two nights earlier. Additionally, it came as a surprise to see him on the ice for this game. It should have been Carter Hart on the ice. Instead, it was Ersson because Hart had just left the team on an indefinite leave of absence. He left the team to face a sexual assault charge for the now infamous 2018 Team Canada World Juniors scandal.
Unlikely Hero For The Philadelphia Flyers
At the time of Hart’s departure, the Philadelphia Flyers were surprisingly in a playoff spot. Now, just two months later, the team has fallen into a battle for a Wild Card position. Ersson keeps them in the playoff race through his play. Additionally, his starting role came as a surprise. His current goals against average of 2.81 and save percentage of .891 is higher than most would have predicted.
Currently, he has 46 starts, while Cal Peterson and Felix Sandstrom have a combined 10 starts. Collectively, they are 3-4-0 and have allowed 35 goals over 540 minutes. Now, with only six games remaining, it looks like the Flyers have caught the biggest break of their season.
Contract Complications With The Philadelphia Flyers
On March 28th CSKA Moscow announced they had terminated the contract of goaltender Ivan Fedotov. Why does this matter? The Philadelphia Flyers own his rights due to the one-year entry-level contract. He signed this contract back on May 7, 2022. Since being drafted by the Flyers back in 2015, Fedotov has tried to come to the US before. He was arrested at the airport and charged with “trying to evade military service.”
He was forced to serve for a year in the Russian Navy then signed a 2-year contract with CSKA again. Despite Philadelphia having won a dispute with the International Ice Hockey Federation, the Russian government still would not allow Fedotov to leave the country. This certainly adds validity to him not being happy playing for CSKA this year. After the termination of his contract, Fedotov made his NHL debut on April 1st against the New York Islanders.
Philadelphia Flyers Playoff Potential
During his debut, Fedotov certainly looked happy and comfortable between the pipes and was the only player to receive compliments from head coach John Tortorella. He stopped 19 of 21 shots during his 38 minutes of ice time. A strong start to his long-awaited NHL career, at a time when the Flyers need him the most. Tortorella has had success in the past in the playoffs with Russian goaltenders, will he again this year?
In 2004 Nikolai Khabibulin led Tortorella’s Lightning to a Stanley Cup Championship with a goals-against average of under 2.00 and Sergei Bobrovsky allowed only 8 goals during the Blue Jackets 2019 sweep of the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Lightning. Ivan Fedotov. has made the Philadelphia Flyers a must-watch team for the rest of the season – but can he help extend their run in the playoffs?
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