I doubt many would have predicted that goaltending would be one of the Flyers’ strengths this season, but it’s true. Rookie Sergei Bobrovsky ranks 3rd in wins, 10th in goals-against-average, and 8th in save percentage in the NHL. Brian Boucher, in the limited appearances he’s made this season, has a 3-3-2 record but a strong 2.58 GAA. In the last two games, the Flyers lost in shoot-outs, but the goaltenders held their opponents to two or less goals in each contest.
It remains to be seen what will happen once goaltender Michael Leighton returns to the team after recovering from back surgery, but I thought it would be worthwhile to look at the prospects-in-waiting.
Johan Backlund has been playing poorly this season with the Adirondack Phantoms. In the first year of a two year contract extension, Backlund was hoping of improving his status after a strong season last year, but has been floundering. It’s hard to say whether he’s regressed or if the team in front of him is really that bad, but regardless, his 3.85 GAA in 16 games played isn’t good enough to be more than a call-up in the event of injuries. Per CSNPhilly, he recently sprained his ankle and will be out for two-three weeks.
The other Phantom goalie to start the season, Brian Stewart, had recently been sent down to the ECHL, but has been recalled in light of Backlund’s injury. BroadStreetHockey ran a great interview with Flyers assistant general manager (and now interim Phantoms coach) John Paddock about the team last year and he said about Stewart, “He’s a big guy who’s really athletic, who is mature now physically… he hasn’t had a lot of coaching, so maybe with a little coaching, we can catch lightning in a bottle.” Unfortunately, the organization hasn’t had the time to properly coach him either, and his performance has been poor as well. In four games played with the Phantoms, Stewart had an abysmal 4.73 GAA, but has since posted a 2.68 GAA in the ECHL.
In Stewart’s stead, the Flyers called up prospect Nicola Riopel, who they started in the ECHL. Riopel, flat out, should have been with the Phantoms to start. He’s been described as a very well coached goaltender who isn’t always as athletic as he needs to be. In four games so far with the Phantoms, he’s posted a pedestrian 3.76 GAA, but it still appears to be an improvement. Riopel is currently on a 1-year contract, but hopefully the Flyers are able to retain him beyond this season. At this point, I have more faith in him than Backlund or Stewart.
The best prospect beyond these two is Swedish goaltender Joacim Eriksson. Eriksson is currently playing his first season in the Swedish Elitserien with Skelleftea. He has been splitting starts with veteran starter Andreas Hadelov and has played decently in his rookie year. Eriksson is on a two-year contract and will not likely make it to North America until the 2012-2013 season. That would not necessarily be a bad thing, as the competition in the SEL is tougher than in the AHL and will better prepare him to serve behind Bob.
There isn’t much to say of the remaining prospects. Adam Morrison is unlikely to be retained beyond this season. Jakub Kovar is still playing with in the Czech Extra-Liga, but his standing in the organization is unknown.
The Flyers used a good amount of draft picks in the last few years trying to land a franchise goalie. Eriksson and Riopel are easily the best goaltenders of that group, but Bobrovsky may be the best of the bunch. They didn’t draft any this past year, but I would suspect that they make at least one selection next year to add more goalies to the system.
Nice to see that they are finally paying attention to the goalie position. So important for the way that they play hockey, because their system will allow shots.