Photo Credit: Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Yesterday Felix Sandström inked a two-year contract extension with the Flyers, it was a two-year, two-way/one-way contract worth an average annual value (AAV) of $775,000. Initially, I was a bit perplexed by Sandström re-signing, this was his first opportunity as a free agent to sign elsewhere, especially with the back log of goaltenders that the Flyers have at the moment. With the signing of Ivan Fedotov earlier in the year, I really thought Sandström would test the market, but there are also a lot of goaltenders available this offseason, and this was brought to my attention by a great writer in Russ Cohen. The only question that remains is where does Kirill Ustimenko fit into all this?
The former MHK Dynamo St. Petersburg product in Ustimenko, appeared to be confident, and one could see the jubilation on his face after he made save after save for the Royals this past season. For his efforts, Ustimenko registered a 2.67 GAA, and a .916 Save Percentage in only 19 games played for the Royals this past season. However, he did see time with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms garnering a 2.91 GAA and a .900 Save Percentage in eight games played for the minor league affiliate of the Flyers.
The Flyers have a backlog of young netminders at the moment, which is a good thing for the orange and black, but one has to wonder when the Flyers cut ties with some of these young prospects for gain purposes. Here is the young netminding pipeline for the Flyers below
Carter Hart, Ivan Fedotov, Felix Sandström, Samuel Ersson, and Kirill Ustimenko
Fedotov and Sandström will battle for the backup position to Hart at training camp, while Ersson is coming off an injury plagued first professional season with the Phantoms, but he figures to be the backup to Sandström. He really played well for the Phantoms when he was healthy. This leaves Ustimenko in the ECHL again with the Royals, but playing time might be hard to find there as Logan Flodell what’s phenomenal for the Royals last season.
Mind you, Ustimenko is a Restricted Free Agent, 10.2 (c), which means he cannot be offer sheeted by any other team. What do the Flyers do with Ustimenko? Why continue to sign him for the Royals, to which playing time is not guaranteed. Again this is a great problem I have for the orange and black, as the goaltending position is one of the most unpredictable in the sport, but playing time is mightily important for a netminder, especially a young one trying to prosper in this sport.
This is an asset or trade chip that Flyers’ General Manager Chuck Fletcher could use this offseason given the goalie conundrum at the moment, let’s not forget that the Flyers own indefinite rights to young prospect Aleksei Kolosov, who was selected by the orange and black at the 2021 NHL Draft. Ustimenko deserves a fresh start elsewhere as on the surface it appears he’s on the outside looking in, but this also benefits the Flyers as well to obtain immediate NHL talent. Ustimenko could be used in part of a deal to obtain such.
