Flyers Are Major Players For A Goalie This Offseason

The Philadelphia Flyers' biggest weakness is their goaltending. A lot of weight was put on Samuel Ersson's shoulders when Carter Hart left and nothing has been done about goaltending since. Ersson is the starter, but didn't put up nearly good enough numbers for that this season. The other options that the Flyers have, Alexei Kolosov and Ivan Fedotov, are not the answer next season either.

According to Frank Seravalli, the Flyers have been searching far and wide to add goaltending this summer. That means looking at a trade, analyzing the goalies who will be available in free agency and their likelihood of signing who they want, and even offer sheets. The list of possible offer sheet targets is very interesting.

The free agent class of goalies isn't great and Jake Allen or Anton Forsberg seem to be the best options there. While both could be upgrades to Fedotov and Kolosov and give the Flyers a little better goaltending, they could want even more. I don't think the Flyers are going to make the playoffs next season, but everyone starts on the same level and anything can happen if some of their young players take big positive steps.

The trade market is going to be weird for goalies. John Gibson should be available and that would be a good target for the Flyers, but he may also want to go to a situation where he can win. It has been made clear he doesn't want to go to a place where he would be the backup or play less games. Given both his and Ersson's numbers this season, he would take over that starter role.

The most intriguing way Philadelphia could upgrade their goaltending is through an offer sheet as I mentioned. The list of RFA goalies includes Lukas Dostal, Joel Hofer, Daniil Tarasov, Arvid Soderblom, Devon Levi, and Jakub Dobes. Any one of them are capable of playing better than Kolosov and Fedotov and some might be in positions where a solid offer sheet could get them to sign. There are lots of options, whether the one the Flyers chooses works out or not, so this is something to keep an eye out as the draft approaches and trades are already happening.