The Philadelphia Flyers may end up being buyers at this year’s NHL trade deadline. Well, not exclusively. While the Orange and Black are still looking to sell their pending free agents, general manager Danny Briere could be looking to add some depth in the form of an inexpensive veteran forward or backup goalie option.
The Flyers have relied on Samuel Ersson as their starting goalie for over a month now and while he’s done an admirable job, Cal Petersen has not. The $5-million man allowed seven goals on 32 shots against the Penguins before being sent down last week.
Felix Sandstrom hasn’t had a great track record either, but he backstopped the Flyers to a win on Saturday night thanks to the help of a few goalposts hit by the Senators. John Tortorella does want to give Sandstrom another chance, but the Flyers may need to add an inexpensive backup goalie for the final month of the season.
There aren’t that many goalies that fall into that category, though. We’ve dug deep to come up with a list of names that the Flyers could add to their goaltending stable.
Chris Driedger
With both Phillip Grubauer and Joey Daccord playing well at the NHL level, the Seattle Kraken have had Chris Driedger in the AHL with the Coachella Valley Firebirds for most of this season. Driedger is a 29-year-old goalie who has experience moving up and down from the AHL to the NHL and has found some success at both levels.
Driedger is a pending free agent carrying a $2.35-million cap hit this season. He is 16-6-4 with an impressive 2.25 goals against average (GAA) and .917 save percentage (SV%) this season in the AHL. He’s also made two NHL starts this year, stopping 55 of 60 shots for a 1-1-0 record.
The best years of Driedger’s career came with the Florida Panthers in 2019-20 and 2020-21. He went 21-8-4 with a 2.07 GAA and .931 SV% in 35 games (34 starts) during his two years in Florida.
While Driedger didn’t have the best year in Seattle in the 2021-22 season (9-14-1, .899 SV%, 2.96 GAA), he’s bounced back nicely and could play well behind the Flyers’ defensive system.
The Kraken are selling, have two goalies under contract for next season, and should want to get something for Driedger rather than potentially letting him walk this offseason. The Flyers may be able to swoop in and add the veteran netminder for a late-round pick.
Kaapo Kahkonen
Here is another pending free agent who has some NHL success prior to joining the lowly Sharks in the 2021-22 season. He is only 6-20-2 with a 3.70 GAA and .897 SV% this season, but San Jose is one of the worst teams in the league. Mind you, a SV% around .900 would be just fine for what the Flyers are looking to add.
Kahkonen started his career in Minnesota and posted a 2.88 GAA and .907 SV% during his two-plus years there. He hasn’t found that same success in San Jose but perhaps a change of scenery would work for the veteran netminder.
It’s worth noting that Kahkonen is only 27 years old (28 in August) and the 6-foot-2 netminder could work his way into the Flyers’ plans for the next year or two if he plays well enough.
The Sharks should be looking to sell off whatever pieces they can and the Flyers could give them a call to kick the tires on Kahkonen.
Antti Raanta or Spencer Martin
The Hurricanes may not want to help out their Metropolitan Division rivals, especially since the Flyers may meet them in the first round of the playoffs, but Carolina has a goalie logjam with Frederik Andersen potentially returning soon.
Rookie goalie Pyotr Kochetkov is signed through 2027 at a $2 million cap hit and he appears to be the goalie of the future in Carolina. Andersen is also under contract next year, leaving Raanta and Martin as the potential odd-men out.
Raanta is 12-7-2 with a 2.99 GAA and .872 SV% this season while playing behind one of the best defensive teams in the league. However, unless the 34-year-old goalie completely fell off a cliff — which is possible –, he could return to form. In his first two years in Carolina he went 34-8-7 with a 2.34 GAA and .911 SV%.
It would be surprising if the Hurricanes elected to move Raanta, though. At the very least, the price would be higher for the veteran with playoff experience.
That brings us to Spencer Martin, who is a pending free agent with a $762,500 cap hit.
The Hurricanes claimed Martin from the Blue Jackets back in January. He went 3-8-1 with a 3.65 GAA and .887 SV% in Columbus but has been dazzling in five games with the Hurricanes. He’s 4-0-1 with a 1.97 GAA and .922 SV% in five starts in Carolina.
Martin was solid in the AHL for the Canucks last season, going 7-7-2 with a 2.43 GAA and .916 SV%. Once Andersen is cleared to return, he’ll likely have to pass through waivers again with the Hurricanes keeping Kochetkov and Raanta on the roster.
Carolina could look to move Martin for a late-round pick at the deadline rather than losing him for nothing on the waiver wire in a few weeks.
Louis Domingue
Another division rival here as Louis Domingue is currently in the New York Rangers’ system as their AHL goaltender. He’s highly unlikely to get any NHL time, though, with Igor Shesterkin returning to form and Jonathan Quick finding the fountain of youth in New York.
Domingue is a free agent after this season with a $775,000 cap hit. He’s playing well in the AHL with the Hartford Wolf Pack, posting a 13-7-4 record with a 2.65 GAA and .910 SV%.
Of course, we once again run into the issue of a playoff team in the Flyers’ division potentially not wanting to help the Orange and Black out. But if the Rangers are open to moving Domingue to the Flyers, Briere should consider it.
Domingue has a 3.02 GAA and .905 SV% in his 143-game NHL career and helped the Pittsburgh Penguins push the Rangers to seven games back in the 2022 playoffs thanks to some spicy pork and broccoli.
