Sources: Flyers considering alternatives to replace goaltender Samuel Ersson

It has been 24 months now that Samuel Ersson has struggled mightily in net for the Philadelphia Flyers. With an .858 save percentage and a 3.33 goals against average, Ersson has been costing the Flyers games (in big ways) in his recent outings.

A few months back I reported that the Flyers still had confidence in Ersson. Though the alarm bells are not quite ringing yet, I have heard they are finally starting to consider alternative options to replace Ersson should he continue to struggle, according to a team source I spoke to Monday morning. 

AHL goaltender Aleksei Kolosov (who has been recalled several times this year) is an option, though the Flyers are not eager to mess with a good thing right now.

Kolosov, 24, has a .908 with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and was recently a star of the week for the AHL. Kolosov had a volatile rookie season in North America last year, moving up and down between the NHL and AHL as he struggled to adapt to life away from home. Now completely bought in, he’s developing on a more linear path; though his play is promising, the Flyers were not planning on disrupting it at this point. 

There aren’t many options via the trade route, but I did ask a source about Colton Ellis and Alex Lyon of the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres, who have been the league’s hottest team since their GM change, had been dealing with a three-goaltender rotation for the majority of the season. The source I spoke with did not seem to have too much interest in Ellis based on his lack of NHL experience but was open to the idea of Lyon – at the right price. 

Lyon, 33, signed a two-year, $3-million contract with the Sabres this past summer. Currently on injured reserve, Lyon was having a solid season, sporting a .906 SV% and a 10-6-3 record for the Sabres. The Flyers source did say that the price would have to be right; it doesn’t sound like the Flyers would be willing to pay more than a third-round pick, especially with Lyon carrying an extra year on his deal. It is also worth noting that Lyon broke into the NHL with the Flyers almost a decade ago, when then-GM Ron Hextall signed him out of college.

The Flyers had marked this season and last as the two seasons to figure out what they have with their internal goaltenders – a plan they set out in the spring of 2024. Ivan Fedotov was already traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets ahead of the season; that left Ersson and Kolosov to evaluate by the spring of 2026. As aforementioned, Kolosov has gotten his development back on track and could be scratching the surface of a full time NHL gig over the next 12 months. As for Ersson, the clock could be running out.

According to moneypuck.com, Ersson ranks bottom-10 in goals saved above expected per 60 among 75 goalies who have played at least five games this season. Going back two years now, Ersson has consistently struggled and been ranked near the basement of the league among goaltenders in almost every statistical and analytical category. According to a team source, his future with the team could very well be in jeopardy if he doesn’t turn things around; he is an RFA at season’s end.

The Flyers have long believed in Ersson, but the sample size of poor play is becoming too large to ignore. In the thick of a playoff race (third in the Metropolitan Division with 52 points after back to back losses to the Tampa Bay Lightning), the Flyers have to start looking at options to better insulate Dan Vladar barring a major turnaround from Ersson.