The Achilles heel for the Philadelphia Flyers remains in between the pipes as their three-headed monster from the 2024-25 season proved to be a futile endeavour. While Samuel Ersson is expected to return in goal and play a pivotal role in a contract year, expect some changes, as reported by Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco.
While a lot of the attention this summer has been centered around Mitch Marner and the Florida Panthers’ trio of Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, and Brad Marchand, the goaltending market is expected to be very busy and very active with a lot of teams looking for change – including the Flyers.
This offseason the market should be rather busy with trade targets including Thatcher Demko, Joel Hofer, and John Gibson. Jake Allen, Anton Forsberg, and Ilya Samsonov will headline the free agent options.
As previously speculated, Demko made sense as a potential target when factoring in his expiring contract, injury history, and up-and-down production. He obviously has ties with Rick Tocchet and his play before the injuries piled up made it a worthwhile endeavour.
After completing their trade for Trevor Zegras, many wondered if the Flyers inquired about goaltender John Gibson. However, Di Marco mentions that the Flyers weren’t all too interested based on his injury history and perhaps because he is represented by agent Kent Overhardt – who also represents Cutter Gauthier.
Speculation no more, Di Marco mentions that the Flyers kicked tires on Demko as well as St. Louis Blues RFA goaltender Joel Hofer. However, the Flyers were turned off a bit by the high asking price that starts with a first round as pick as well as the injury history from the former, and the inexperience from the latter – especially if they’re parting with a first round pick.
As for the free agent market, there are a handful of netminders that would make sense like Allen but based on the market and how many proven goalies are going to be made available this year, the former New Jersey Devil will have a robust market.
After Allen, you have Forsberg and Samsonov as the next-best targets but both had underwhelming seasons so it will be interesting to see what their market looks like and whether or not market value plays a hand in their next contracts. With so few options available and plenty of teams needing help in goal, it could become a bidding war the Flyers might not want to be a part of.
As for the options currently under contract in 2025-26, Di Marco believes the Flyers will more than likely place Ivan Fedotov on waivers and based on his contract and production, he should clear and report to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
He also believes that while there’s some discourse out there about Aleksei Kolosov not returning to North America, the Flyers fully expect him back for training camp. With Carson Bjarnason entering his first pro season this year as well, the Phantoms will have several options to choose from on a game-by-game basis.
All 3 of Ersson, Fedotov, and Kolosov will be playing on expiring contracts, perhaps giving them one last chance to prove their mettle before the Flyers look to clean things up in between the pipes. Ersson might be the only one that stands a chance at earning an extension but based on how Daniel Brière has been working through contracts, don’t expect a long-term deal.
With Bjarnason playing in the AHL next season and Egor Zavragin containing to turn heads in the KHL, the Flyers will probably be looking for stop-gaps until they’re ready. Changes are afoot in goal as the Flyers look to stop treading water as a bottom-5 team around the league at a position of much importance.
