The Philadelphia Flyers are entering the 2024-25 season fairly secure in every position except one. And it is probably the most vital position in this whole sport.
Now without the security of a previously developed, highly regarded for his on-ice ability, young goaltender who is now facing criminal charges, the team will be going into what should be a strong transitional season with an unproven tandem of goaltenders. Sam Ersson and Ivan Fedotov are going to be the goalie duo to start this Flyers season and while it’s certainly not the worst situation in the league, it also might have the most questions surrounding them or the widest array of potential results.
Can Ersson come into the season being the designated starter? Can Ivan Fedotov show us more than he has in his brief stint as a Flyer so far and not look chaotic in between the pipes? How will they manage the game load? What happens if both of them are very bad? What happens if both of them are exceptionally good? There are so many questions but only so much time until the Flyers open their season on October 11 in Vancouver. Let’s get to it.
Ivan Fedotov
What did we see from Fedotov last season?
Obviously, we did not see a whole lot. If you can remember a time before Matvei Michkov came overseas, or before Jett Luchanko was drafted, the Flyers were facing a goaltending crisis near the end of the season. Hart was gone, Ersson thrown in the deep end and played so many damn games that he eventually got fatigued and it went downhill (more on that later). No other goaltender in the system could manage playing in the NHL — rumors were abound that they were looking at external options, until out of nowhere, the goaltender that many thought would never play in North America, was released from his KHL contract at 27 years old and flew over to Philadelphia.
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