Goaltender Carter Hart has been re-signed by the Philadelphia Flyers to a three-year, $12 -million contract. This contract carries a salary-cap hit of $4 million per season.
Sounds like approx $4M per https://t.co/Bfo7oKUsvP
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) August 9, 2021
Carter Hart Re-Signed by Flyers
The 2020-21 season saw Carter Hart struggle mightily. After a shaky start, the 22-year-old ended up splitting time in the net with veteran goaltender Brian Elliott. He logged just 25 starts, the lightest workload of his career thus far. Then, on top of Hart’s performance difficulties, an unfortunate MCL sprain sidelined him for the last few games of the season.
Over his three-year NHL career, Hart has remained with the Flyers. He holds a .905 career save percentage and a 2.88 goals-against average. This season, Hart’s stats were below his personal norm, as he recorded a .877 save percentage and 3.67 goals against average.
Hart was originally drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round, 48th overall in the 2016 NHL draft.
What This Means for the Future
In re-signing Hart, the Flyers are betting on him rebounding next year – and it’s likely he’ll do just that. If his past record is any indication, this season was more of an outlier than an accurate gauge of his ability. Also, this is a prove-it deal for the young goaltender. Before hitching their wagon to Hart for the long-term they want to see if he can actually be a number one goalie in this league and their goaltender of the future. The Flyers are learning from their past mistakes when it comes to signing goaltenders to long-term extensions.
Many of the challenges that the young goaltender faced, with regards to both the team and the league, were unique to the 2020-21 season. The Flyers’ floundering defence made Hart’s job far from easy, but offseason moves to acquire a top blueliner should help. Playing in relative isolation also proved difficult, especially from a mental standpoint. Hopefully, the 2021-22 season will be played in a more normal environment and that problem, too, can be resolved. Entering next season with a stronger Flyers team and better circumstances should help Hart start off on a better note.
In addition, Hart showed promising signs of improvement toward the tail end of this season. He became visibly more confident and topped off his resurgence with a shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Going forward, Hart’s performance in the 2020-21 season doesn’t seem to be a major concern. “My level of confidence in Carter is very high,” said head coach Alain Vigneault. With this new contract, the Flyers have simply confirmed their continued faith in their goaltender of the future.
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