Jan 16, 2025; Elmont, New York, USA; Philadelphia Flyers right wing Garnet Hathaway (19) celebrates after scoring a goal in the second period against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
Last week on his 32 Thoughts podcast, NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman threw out that the Flyers are a team to watch on Anaheim Ducks goalie John Gibson.
It seemed odd. Why would the Flyers, who have carried three goalies on their active roster for a good chunk of the season, suddenly be interested in another veteran goaltender? It was even more perplexing as the Flyers fell into last place in the Metropolitan Division a week ago, on the eve of the clash with those same Ducks. It's even more confusing since Gibson has a no-trade clause. He could nix a trade anywhere, why would he go to a last place team that's in the middle of a rebuild.
But then the Cutter Gauthier game happened. Gibson had a front row seat giving up all six goals and hearing the frenzy of the crowd around him. That had to at least be intriguing. Not to mention, that game seemed to suddenly provide the Flyers with some new spunk. They are 3-0-1 in their last four games, and have climbed over three teams in the Division and are now again just four points out of a playoff spot.
👏 John
👏 Gibson! #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/YNMnfoLGRq
Which begs the question, can they get over the hump? Can they vault past four more teams and do what they couldn't a season ago and make the playoffs.
And the answer is simple, not without a true No. 1 goalie, they can't.
Which is why it starts to make sense as to why Friedman would report the Gibson rumor.
Because if the Flyers had a true No. 1 goalie, they would be a playoff team.
There's a lot to unpack here, so I ask you to bear with me, but I say that with a good deal of confidence. And while it has something to do with the way the Flyers play - they are one of the most structure-oriented teams in the league, and without a true superstar, they are more willing to buy into playing a complete team game night in and night out - it also has to do with the teams around them.
If you want a full deep dive, we had a lengthy discussion about it on the latest episode of Snow the Goalie:
But if you just want to keep reading, let's take a moment to look at the Eastern Conference.
The top three teams in each division are your cup contenders - In the Metro, Washington has been a surprise this season, but they've been incredibly consistent and now sport the best record in the league. New Jersey is back after a down year a season ago and Carolina is Carolina. In the Atlantic, Toronto finally has the right coach, Florida is a wagon, and the defending champs, and Tampa Bay has the best coach in the sport and a bevy of talented stars.
After those six, it's an utter crapshoot, with the sixth-best team and the 16th-best team separated by just 10 points.
In other words, there's a lot of mediocrity - and yes, that includes the Flyers.
But what about the Flyers is better than every one of the 10 teams they've been lumped in with? The way they are committed to their defensive structure and how they attack out of that defensive posture. They may play the best team-oriented game in the league. And that's the Torts effect. Head coach John Tortorella has been beating the drum for a standard of play, and if you don't live up to that standard, you will find yourself rooted to the bench, or not in the lineup at all.
It's why the Flyers are so relentless that they lead the NHL with eight victories when trailing in the third period. They believe in their system. They believe in their structure. They won't give anything away. They're a hard out in almost every game they play, even if they have lost 26 of them.
And the reason they've lost many of those 26 games - goaltending.
This isn't meant as a hard knock on the three guys who have manned the pipes for the Flyers this season, as they've all had struggles that are understandable. Sam Ersson has battle through injury three different times, Ivan Fedotov has played sporadically, and his outings have been, surprise, sporadic. Some good some bad. As for Aleksei Kolosov, we've seen flashes of what he can be in time, but the guy really should be playing regular minutes in the AHL, not sitting as the third goalie in the NHL and not playing.
But when you look at their goals against average and their save percentages and where they rank in those categories, it's pretty alarming:
The Flyers have kept three goalies because of Ersson's injury issues, and they want to manage it as best as possible while continuing to play him as much as they can, but it's clear to see why, at the beginning of the season, Tortorella said the Flyers goaltending situation scares the hell out of him.
Not one, not two, not three, but FOUR saves by Samuel Ersson 🤩 pic.twitter.com/TAgOgpTjzY
Ersson is a fine backup, but he's not a No. 1. We don't know if Fedotov - who has been better in his last three starts - can be a consistent NHL goalie or not, and Kolosov is not ready for prime time. The Flyers were able to play this way a season ago and look better to this point in the season in doing so because Carter Hart was the No. 1 goalie. But Monday will mark a year since his last game as a Flyer, as he was part of a group of players charged in the awful 2018 Team Canada sexual assault saga.
Since that point, the Flyers have not been the same in goal, and somehow still hang around in games.
Hart's last game last season was the Flyers' 46th game. They were 25-15-6. They have played 46 games this season. They are 20-20-6. A five game difference. Give these Flyers those five more wins that a true No. 1 would provide, and they'd be in third place in the Metro and eight points ahead of the first team out of the playoffs.
The Flyers haven't changed much. Yes, they've added Matvei Michkov, and last year's team eventually would trade Sean Walker, but aside from that, it's basically the same team of skaters they had a year ago at this time.
And some guys are better now than they were a season ago. Travis Konecny has 53 points and is top 10 in the league in scoring. Noah Cates is a far more confident offensive player. Morgan Frost is starting to finally look like the player he should be in this league. For all the carping there was about Rasmus Ristolainen's contract in previous seasons, he looks like a bargain with how well he's playing. Travis Sanheim has fallen off his early-season pace, but he's been improved.
What a pass from Travis Konecny. Hathaway with his 3rd in 4 nights. pic.twitter.com/Zr2VgLF01x
So, there's no reason they should have slipped as much as they have from last season - except for the in the one place where things are, in fact, different. In goal.
Look, John Gibson may not be the answer either, but what he gives you is similar if not slightly better production as Ersson. A guy like may not make up the five-game difference between last season and this season, but even if he makes up half of it, that gets you into the playoffs.
The teams in front of the Flyers have their flaws. from 7-11, Columbus, Boston, Ottawa, Montreal and Detroit are all mediocre at best. The Flyers play a better team game than all of them. Right behind the Flyers you have the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh, the New York Islanders and Buffalo. The Rangers and Islanders have more top-end talent, but again, the Flyers play a better team game. And the Flyers are just better than the Pens and Sabres.
A playoff spot is there for the taking. The league has never been more middling and vulnerable to a worker bee-type team to steal a spot than it is right now. The Flyers could be that team - but without a true No.. 1 goalie, they're probably not going to get there.
