All stats relative to February 14, 2019
It is pretty clear that Carter Hart is the Philadelphia Flyers goalie for the future. At just 20 years old, he is already made a tremendous impact at the NHL level, giving fans reassurance for the hype surrounding him when he was drafted 48th overall in 2016. Once at the bottom of the league less than a month ago, the Flyers now sit just 8 points back for the final wildcard spot (in their last 14 games, they have 11 wins, 8 of which were consecutive, a shootout loss and two regulation loses). Hart owns a tremendous 2.48 GAA and a .924% in 18 games played so far this season, needless to say he is a big part of the Flyers recent success. This then begs the question: Hart will be the starting goalie this team has been looking for now for decades, but should he be leaned on so much at just 20 years old? Answers may vary, but it looks like the Flyers are searching for acquire veteran goalie to help the team out.
General Manager Chuck Fletcher made it clear that the team is lacking in goalie depth and that he would like to acquire some veteran presence sooner rather than later. With that being said, it has been reported by Darren Dreger that the Flyers have inquired about Edmonton Oilers’ goaltender Cam Talbot. Peter Chiarelli’s final move before being let go by the organization was locking up their other goaltender, Mikko Koskinen, to a three-year deal at $4.5 million AAV - very steep price for a goaltender with less than 50 games of NHL experience and has been struggling mightily ever since. With the Oilers in a cap crunch, it seems that they may have to move on from Talbot and the Flyers are showing interest. Talbot sports a 3.36 GAA and .893 SV% in 31 games this season.
It should be interesting to see where these preliminary talks go, as Edmonton is in dire need for scoring on the wing (Simmonds?). Many questions surround this potential trade, why are the Flyers going after another mediocre goaltender? What does this mean for Hart? etc. I guess we will find out come trade deadline day.
Confirmed: The Edmonton Oilers trades goaltender Cam Talbot to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for goaltender Anthony Stolarz
Stats from NHL.com
Contract Research from CapFriendly.com