Nov 14, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson (33) defends the net against the St. Louis Blues during the second period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
As far as rebuilding plans go, the Philadelphia Flyers are at the phase where making the playoffs is an absolute target.
The Flyers brass isn't fooling themselves into thinking they should be a difference-maker when they get there, but they do feel like the experience of playoff hockey will do wonders for their team in this, the third season since that R-word was first officially uttered by a franchise that never once attempted a multi-year rebuild in its history.
The Flyers still have a long way to go, although their 9-5-3 start is encouraging for the first 20% of the season. They got there after another shootout win, 6-5 in St. Louis on Friday, a record that has them currently situated as the second and final wild card team in a tough Eastern Conference where 15 of the 16 teams have a points percentage of .500 or better.
It's way too early to look at playoff standings, but it's not way too early to determine if there are individual players on your roster that can help get you there.
And to be a playoff team, you need consistent and solid goaltending. Your goalies don't need to be All-Star caliber - although those that have All-Star goalies are not complaining - but they need to be game managers. They need to be able to keep you in games. From time-to-time, they need to bail out their teammates when mistakes are made in front of them. And they have to keep bad goals or bad games in net to a minimum.
Right now, unless the team finds a way to get to a shootout with him in net, Sam Ersson isn't giving the Flyers what they need in that regard.
We have a Sam Ersson problem, guys.
5-3 STL. pic.twitter.com/w8qIVq0Bbv
He was in net on Friday. Yes, he won the game - and winning is ultimately all that matters - and yes he was once again 3-for-3 stopping the opponent in the shootout, making two saves and forcing a third shot wide with his patience.
However, that is far too-specific a skill to be your best quality as a goalie for a team with playoff aspirations to consider you reliable. What happens in front of you during the first 65 minutes matters a hell of a lot more.
This season, Ersson, 26, has made six starts. If the Flyers want to take that next step and be a postseason participant, they need to sit down and have the difficult internal conversation about a guy they once viewed as a top goalie prospect and decide how many more starts they can really afford to give him.
Although Ersson has an O.K. record in those six starts - He's 3-1-2 - His 3.30 goals against average ranks 37th of 45 goalies in the NHL with at least six starts, and even worse, his save percentage of .846 ranks 44th. Only Edmonton backup Calvin Pickard is worse.
✅ Steal puck
✅ Shoot
✅ Score
Jordan Kyrou does it all. pic.twitter.com/Cgvmemsaa0
And it's been an ugly trend for Ersson, who, ever since he became the Flyers de facto No. 1 goalie following the Carter Hart fiasco in January, 2024, has been on a slow decline.
It's possible he's a guy who can't handle a big workload, or he's a guy who has struggled to come back from repeat groin injuries - something that has upended many a goalie's career - but the causation of his slide at this point is less important that the potential causation for the team of his continued use going forward.
It was expected that Ersson was going to be the No. 1 goalie again this year and that the Flyers signed veteran backup Dan Vladar in the offseason to be a guy who could split time with Ersson and allow him to not be overworked.
But Vladar was instantly the better goalie in camp. So much so, that Vladar earned the nod on opening night, the home opener and has started 10 of the Flyers 17 games thus far. Aleksei Kolosov, currently in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, started one when Ersson missed a week when the groin was tweaked.
Vladar blew past Ersson to become the team's starting goalie. He'll be back in net again on Saturday against a much tough opponent - the Dallas Stars.
But Vladar also isn't Martin Broudeur, and he's not going to start 65 games for the Flyers. Even if he keeps up the current pace and starts 48 games for the Flyers, that means other goalies will have to start 34.
That means there's roughly 27 games remaining on the Flyers schedule where a goalie not named Vladar has to start. How many can the Flyers truly afford to hand to Ersson and expect him to play well enough for them to win and stay ahead of teams in the playoff race?
Yes, they won Friday, but that was an anomaly when a goalie lets up five goals.
don't look now but Dylan Holloway has goals in three straight games pic.twitter.com/uxZXsJW0Pt
Ersson had given up five goals on 16 shots. After the fifth goal, he faced only more shot over the final 20:04 before the shootout.
The Flyers clamped down defensively to prevent shots. They couldn't afford to let the Blues get any chances. They started blocking more shots than they normally do. It worked out.
But they can't do that every time he's in goal.
It seems that Ersson either allows a bad goal or doesn't bail out a mistake in coverage or a turnover every game. His numbers are getting worse with each game as well. He's looking small in net.
What are the Flyers options?
Not great at the moment. They could bring back Kolosov, who has looked pretty good in seven starts with the Phantoms, but the Flyers would prefer to keep the 22-year-old playing with regularity in the AHL for now and see how he handles that workload before bringing him back up.
They could trade for a goalie. For example, Buffalo's situation is a mess right now with three goalies on the NHL roster and a young prospect, Devon Levi, stuck in the minors wanting desperately to get a shot he likely deserves in the NHL, but can't because of the messy glut in front of him.
Maybe you try and take on one of their guys and see if it's better than Ersson.
After Saturday's game, the Flyers will have four days off before they play again. They don't play back-to-back again until Black Friday, so they have a little time that they could ride Vladar without overworking him.
But the schedule starts ramping up again that week of Thanksgiving with four road games and then 12 games in 23 days once the calendar flips to December before Christmas.
It's likely that of these next 19 games Vladar can start 12 or 13. But that means that there are at least six games - and 12 points on the line - that you'll need your backup to come in and hold down the fort.
If they want to be a playoff team, the Flyers probably shouldn't let it go that long with Ersson.
