John Tortorella confirms what some thought on the Carter Hart situation before the season began, and he sheds some light on Samuel Ersson

Photo Credit: NHL.com

Flyers’ Head Coach John Tortorella and the top brass have been pretty transparent about things throughout the course of the season, with the exception of injuries of course and mainly that is due to HIPAA.

Some Flyers fans have pieced together a puzzle involving Carter Hart, to which some believed that the Flyers knew in advance that Hart at some point wouldn’t be with the team due to the 2018 Hockey Canada investigation. The writing was on the wall before Hart left the team in December. The Flyers drafted two goaltenders Carson Bjarnason and Yegor Zavragin, in addition they re-signed Samuel Ersson to achieve to your deal when they didn’t have to, and they were hesitant to waive Felix Sandström while carrying three goalies for a period of time. Cal Petersen was also brought over in a trade from the Los Angeles Kings, and all of this combined made some Flyers fans think and media alike that the Flyers were preparing for a Hart departure at some point.

Let’s not forget there were tons of trade rumors involving Hart in the offseason, but the Flyers always said that everyone was on the table. It just all made sense after Hart departed from the team in late January, as he was eventually arrested for his role in a sexual assault that occurred during the 2018 World Juniors Classic tournament. The Flyers top brass and Tortorella were smart with providing depth at the goaltending position, so they weren’t left floundering searching for netminders. Although, it was pretty obvious at what was transpiring before everyone’s eyes, Tortorella cleared the air yesterday on the subject:

“Let’s face it, things got thrown into a really weird situation when we lost Carter,” Tortorella said. “But having said that, we had discussions in the summer about the situation w/Carter, & figured something was gonna go on, right? We’ve got to be honest about it.”

Tortorella continued, “I made the decision I’m gonna live or die with Erss. When I played him all those games. I did not have the confidence, and it’s certainly not a criticism. It’s just my assessment of Sandy (Felix Sandström), I made the decision that we are going with Erss. I’ve played the hell out of him. He’s tired.”

“I’ve played the hell out of him. He’s tired.” – John Tortorella on Samuel Ersson

Tortorella confirms what some already thought, the Flyers prepared for a Hart departure well in advance. They did their due diligence, and tried to restock the cupboard appropriately, but it’s not easy replacing a number one netminder. Hart left a huge damper on the season , and possibly the orange and black’s fate into they try to push towards postseason.

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