Photo Credit: Katelynn Reiss
One of the top priorities for the Philadelphia Flyers this offseason will be re-signing restricted free agent goaltender Carter Hart. The soon to be 23-year-old netminder did not meet expectations last season but was regaining confidence in the later games before being shut down due to a lingering knee injury. With a full offseason ahead of him and the confidence of his teammates and management, there are positive signs heading into the 2021-22 campaign. The fact that Hart has become a starting NHL goalie at this age and the long term effects of Covid on the financial health of the league make his next contract an interesting discussion.
The Flyers like to lock up young talent to team friendly contracts when their entry level deals are complete. Travis Konecny was recently given a six-year deal and the team attempted to lock up Phil Myers long-term before settling on a bridge deal, ultimately Myers was moved to Nashville in an offseason trade. With the salary cap staying stagnant due to deferred money during the Covid affected seasons, there is less flexibility to offer a similar contract to Hart. On top of these issues, the Flyers also have to negotiate with another important RFA: Travis Sanheim. The Flyers have addressed their defensemen by adding Rasmus Ristolainen, Ryan Ellis, and Keith Yandle. By adding three experienced players the hope is that it will take pressure off of Carter Hart and help him rebound this season. With these factors in mind, it might be best for both parties to work on a bridge deal that is mutually satisfactory.
Looking at the contract history of some of the top goalies in the league, bridge deals are fairly common. With goalies taking longer to develop, teams are hesitant to make long term commitments right away. The Flyers have been burnt in the past with the Ilya Bryzgalov contract, only being saved by a compliance buyout.
Four of the best goalies in the league faced off in the Conference Finals and they all have one thing in common: bridge deals. Most teams would readily replace their goalie with either: Andrei Vasilevskiy, Marc-Andre Fleury, Carey Price, or Semyon Varlamov. They each gambled on their talents and were rewarded with big contracts after their bridge deals were finished. They would be the blueprint to model Hart’s next contract after. Here is what they each received:
Andrei Vasilevskiy- 3-years, $3.5 million average annually
Carey Price- 2-years, $2.75 million average annually
Marc-Andre Fleury- 2-years, $1.295 million average annually
Semyon Varlamov- 3-years, $2.833 million average annually
Each of these goalies continued to develop and earned multi-year deals with raises, something that Hart can easily replicate.
The Flyers could go into negotiations looking to lock Hart into a three-year bridge deal to keep spending down during the continued flat cap era due to the pandemic. Hart’s camp may look for a two-year deal to minimize his wait for a long term contract. The team is facing a cap crunch that makes it difficult to extend Hart long term right now. If the cap situation was different, there would be a push to attempt that. Hart may not want to sign long term at the moment and hope he can play himself into a deal like Price or Vasilevskiy earned.
I would.not sign a long term contract as the flyer coach and gm did nothing to help Carter last year. The defence was so sloppy that the goalies were totally left out in left field by themselves. The coach never accepted any responsibility and threw Carter under the bus more then once.