Isn’t it time the Flyers and Their Fans stop looking at Carter Hart through Rose-Colored Glasses?

Photo Credit: thekathrynjoy.com

In the 2016 NHL Entry Draft with their second-round pick, the Flyers selected a young goaltender by the name of Carter Hart. In doing so, they thought that they solved their problem in-net that had been ongoing since Ron Hextall- the man that drafted Hart- retired back in 1999. I mean, why wouldn’t they? By the time Carter turned pro his pedigree already consisted of a Western Hockey League (WHL) player of the year award, three Del Wilson Trophies for being voted the WHL’s top goaltender, two Canadian Hockey League (CHL) goaltender of the year awards, one World Junior Championship Silver Medal, and one World Junior Championship Gold medal. 

So, if you fast forward four years to the present day, you’d think that by now the Flyers would have the makings of a franchise goaltender, right? Yeah, not so much. Although still just 23 years old, Hart’s body of work- to date- has been less-than-impressive when you compare it to who the so-called “draft experts” at the time suggested he would turn out to be like: a young Carey Price. While Price may have been Hart’s idol growing up, his play has been far from Price’s, especially the last two seasons: Last year, Carter finished the season with a 3.67 goals-against-average (G.A.A.) and a 0.877 save percentage (SV%). In both statistical categories Hart found himself being ranked outside the Top 50 goalies in the NHL. That same year Carter finished the season only managing to total just 9 wins. That single-digit win total saw him ranked 45^th in the NHL. That means that not only did ALL the other starting goalies in the league have more win totals, but 13 other teams’ backups had more wins than Hart last year. By now, I bet that most of you are already beginning to formulate some sort of excuse for his play since most of you are forced to be optimists because of the Flyers’ lack of star power and horrendous player development. Consequently, you’re left with no choice but to see only the good in some players because you want them to be something that they aren’t, which leaves you with an unrealistic view of them. However, let’s see if we can change that by taking a look his stats from this year as well, shall we? 

This season, Carter finished the year once again with a G.A.A. of over three goals a game.  To be more precise- a 3.16 G.A.A. that ranked him once again outside the top 50 in that stat and a .905 SV% which ranked him just 42^nd overall in that category this year. With this kind of less-than-stellar play from Hart once again this season he was able to post a record of 13 wins and 24 losses with 7 OT. That means Carter was only able to win 28% of his games in which he played in this season and, with those 13 wins this year, Hart currently finds himself ranked 40^th in the NHL. What’s even more depressing is that even if you combined Hart’s last two seasons’ win totals of just (22 victories) it still does not touch the league’s leader for this year- Sergei Bobrovsky (with 39 wins)- and the season isn’t even over yet; Sergei will most likely add to that. 

Again, by now I bet most of you are saying I’m crazy and Hart should not bear any weight of the Flyers’ horrible past few seasons on his conscience because it’s a combination of the defense’s fault, management’s poor decision making, corporate ownership, terrible coaching etc. To which there’s no denying that all those things need to be addressed, but at the end of the day Carter signed a three-year deal that pays him nearly 12 million dollars to be THE guy. I think if you ran a fortune 500 business like Comcast and were paying someone $3,979,000 a year because he was supposed to be one of the most highly-talented young players in the game today, you would expect more from him as well. Even despite the fact that the wheels have seemed to fall off this season (with all the injuries and bad decisions that were made), if he really is one of the best in the league and came to the team with such an amazing resume, he should be able to carry his team through hard times and win a game on his own some nights, right?  

Roberto Luongo and Dominik Hasek did so many years of their careers. In fact, Roberto Luongo made a career as the guy GMs called and paid very generously if they knew they had a mediocre team at best and wanted to make a playoff run in order to save their job. Spending most of his career playing for the Florida Panthers (before they were the team they are today) and the Vancouver Canucks, Roberto was still able to compile 489 wins in his career- a feat that ranks him 4^th all-time in the NHL. In spite of his best defenseman during that time being the very overrated rookie defenseman Aaron Ekblad (when he was with Florida) and a gritty veteran named Kevin Bieksa (during his time in Vancouver), he was able to finish his career with a 2.52 G.A.A. and a .919 SV%. This is largely because of the fact that even though the teams he played on weren’t the best, he could use his talents to take over a game at times. Ok, more like 77 times (which is the number of shut outs he was able to post to allow him to propel his teams to the playoffs 7 times during his career). 

How about Dominik Hasek? Before he won two Stanley Cups with the Red Wings at the end of his career Hasek spent nine seasons playing in Buffalo where his best defenders were a 37-year-old Charlie Huddy and a 32-year-old (former Flyer) Gary Galley. The Sabres didn’t even have anyone on the roster that could score! Their Captain for most of that time was Michael Peca. But still, Hasek was able to win six Vezina Trophies, two Ted Lindsay Awards, two Hart Memorial Trophies, and two (of his three) William M. Jennings Trophies while playing there. So, despite having no help while spending most of his time in Buffalo, Hasek only recorded one losing season in his 16-year career. He made 6 All Star appearances, was able to win 389 games over the course of his career, and recorded 81 shut outs (which in one of those he had to stop 70 shots). This all comes through a long and illustrious career that saw him playing to the ripe old age of 43. He was also able to tally an impressive 82 ties (because of the fact that the Sabres could not score) and, because he was able to maintain such a consistent level of play over his 13-year career regardless of the kind team that was placed around him, Hasek’s career averages were a 2.20 G.A.A. and a .922 SV%. These players were both elite and were able to battle through adversity. To date, Hart has not been able to do so. 

In fact, Hart’s career numbers so far would get him fired on most teams if he was a backup! Thus far, Hart has played in 146 games. He has a record of 62 wins and 61 losses with 16 ties. That’s a career 0.42 win percentage. His career G.A.A. is 2.97 and he currently holds a career save percentage of just 0.905, and, although he has shown he can be solid at times, Hart lacks the ability to win a game on his own. In fact, during his four years in the NHL he has only managed to post three career shut outs. To give you some sort of comparison, Calgary’s Jacob Markstrom already has nine shut outs this year! 

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So, when you really look at Carter’s body of work, it doesn’t even stack up/just manages to be on par with some of the Flyers’ past goalies who all of you heckled out of town over the years. Remember, Hart has played in 146 games so far and has posted a career 2.97 G.A.A. and a .905 SV%. Some other recent Flyers’ goaltenders’ numbers during their time here are as follows:  

Steve Mason played in 231 GP with the Flyers and posted a 2.47 G.A.A. and a .918 SV%
Brian Boucher played in 174 games with the Flyers and recorded a 2.50 G.A.A. with a .904 SV%
Roman Cechmanek played in 163 games with the Flyers and during that time maintained an incredible 1.96 G.A.A. and a 0.923 SV%
Antero Nittymaki played in 161 games for the Flyers and posted a 3.01G.A.A and held a .901 SV% (fun fact: Nitty finished with the same career record with the Flyers of 62 wins and 61 losses as Hart holds right now)
Martin Biron played in 133 games for the Flyers and held a 2.71 G.A.A. and had a .915 SV% during that time.
Heck, Michal Neuvirth played in 88 games with the Flyers and was even able to top Hart’s numbers with a 2.66 G.A.A. and a .908 SV%. 

Therefore, I ask you: why are you still holding Hart up on this pedestal? Don’t get me wrong here, in no way am I trying to bash Carter. I am merely trying to show you that he is a mere mortal and that he does have faults. So, I beg you, PLEASE take off those same rose-colored glasses that you have on when you look at Morgan Frost. Like Frost, Hart has all the potential in the world. I mean, we’ve seen what he can do in the playoffs in the bubble a few years back when was able to win nine games (two of which were shut outs) while posting a 2.23 G.A.A. and a .926 SV%. It’s in there somewhere. But, since then, Hart (like the rest of the Flyers) has been absolute garbage. Like it or not, despite his age, Carter is now being paid as if he is a starter in the NHL. Because of that, his team is now depending on him to be the back stop he was in bubble up in Toronto every time he touches the ice. We all know he- like so many Flyers goaltenders before him- will not get the kind of help he needs from this organization’s figureheads so he must try and hunker down and take it upon himself to be that kind of shut down goaltender he was in Everett. For if he doesn’t somehow manage to pull it all together, he will soon find himself added to the aforementioned lengthy list of talented goalies the Flyers simply ruined.