In a rather shocking announcement coming from the Philadelphia Flyers, the team has granted goaltender Carter Hart an indefinite leave of absence due to personal reasons.
It is an unfortunate development for both the player and the team, as Hart is in the midst of yet another quality season for the Flyers. Including this season, over the last three years, Hart has produced a 47-56-20 record in Philadelphia, carrying a solid .906 SV% and 2.99 GAA. Although the amount of wins is likely not where he would like them to be, the strong play of Hart this year has helped put the Flyers squarely in a position to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2019-20 season.
Given that speculation surrounding the specific reasoning for Hart’s leave of absence would be inappropriate, if Hart has broken a team conduct rule within the organization, it is more than likely the team will announce that in the near future. If Hart is dealing with a separate family matter away from the arena, that would inherently deserve privacy.
Moving forward, in Hart’s absence, Samuel Ersson should assume the starting role, as he has put together an impressive season by all accounts. In 22 games played for the Flyers this year, Ersson carries a 12-6-3 record while producing a .909 SV% and 2.36 GAA. Furthermore, even though Hart has garnered the majority of starts in net for Philadelphia, Ersson leads the team in shutouts with three.
In a corresponding roster move, the Flyers have announced they will be recalling goaltender Calvin Petersen from their AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Acquired as a salary dump from the Los Angeles Kings this past offseason, Petersen has only managed two games in Philadelphia in his first season with the club. Playing primarily for the Phantoms, Petersen has not done particularly well, earning a 5-8-2 record in 15 games with a very modest .890 SV%.
Always.
This isn’t good, regardless of the reason.
World Jr report due out soon.
Right in my wheelhouse.
This has got to be an NHL record for this season. There have been nearly a dozen.
I fear this has to do with the prior sexual assault allegations when he was in juniors for team Canada – say it ain’t so, Carter
I was thinking the same thing I sincerely hope it’s not the case
Dillon Dube was on that 2018 juniors team, too – he also went on leave 2 days ago – not good – well, if they really did it, they should get what they deserve – we’ll see
Interesting observation….I didn’t put these together but here we are.
Oh boy…I’m starting to wonder what other absences will be granted in the next few days
Yea!
No word from Mike McLeod yet so maybe just coincidence.
I’m impressed that the comments haven’t turned dark yet. But perhaps they should be closed before that happens.
Just cover your eyes.
I’m guessing we get the results of the TC wjhc investigation very soon and those are 2 names involved.
Who else is an a$$hole?
Dube and Hart in two days. Hmmmmmmm
Whatever is going on with Carter Hart, hopefully everything turns out well. However, in OT and shootouts, Samuel Ersson is the goalie the Flyers want out there, not Carter Hart.
It’s funny because there was an article by one of the Flyers beat writers just hours before this news and the whole subject was why Ersson was being given the start over Hart and it was all performance reasons. Even if he wasn’t taking a leave I think Ersson would be 1A and Carter 1B.
Buyout!!
Quick! Trade him!
This explains why despite all the trade rumors, the Flyers were never able to trade Hart.
I’m a life long Flyer fan and have been waiting for them to get a franchise goalie since they traded Hextall away. Guess I’ll keep waiting. I hope that anyone who deserves what’s coming, gets it to the full extent. just way too many stories about sexual exploitation and assaults in Canadian hockey.
Globe and Mail saying 5 Canadian World Juniors asked to surrender….
I hope these names come out and if they are in the NHL then so be it they are criminals…and should get jail time..