Philadelphia Flyers: Carter Hart is set to become the face of the franchise

After an outstanding second season, Carter Hart is ready to become the face of the Philadelphia Flyers.

It has been exactly 692 days since Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Carter Hart made his NHL debut. The date was December 18th, 2018 as the orange and black faced off against the Detroit Red Wings. The result was a 3-2 Flyers win, led by Hart’s strong play as he stopped 20 of the 22 shots he faced. While nothing flashy was represented from the Canadian born goaltender on that night, it still was crystal clear the direction of the franchise was significantly altered for the better.

Years and years of mediocre goaltender play has been the one major downfall for the Philadelphia Flyers as an organization. Not since at least the 98-99 season had Philadelphia been able to say they had themselves a franchise goalie. That team was led by veteran backstop Ron Hextall, who had two separate stints with the orange and black. His first ranged from 1986 until 1992, with the second lasting from 1994 until the conclusion of that 1998-99 season.

Over that time, Hextall backstopped the Flyers to two separate Stanley Cup Finals appearances (albeit playing sporadically in the second trip). Unfortunately, he was not able to lead the franchise over the hump as they lost in 1987 to the Wayne Gretzky let Edmonton Oilers; and then again losing in 1997 to the Steve Yzerman led Red Wings.

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The irony in all of this? Ron Hextall is the same guy who selected Carter Hart in the second round of the 2016 NHL Draft. Even more ironic is the fact that the decision to keep Hart in the AHL with the belief he was not ready to compete in the NHL, is ultimately what cost Hextall his job as the Philadelphia Flyers general manager.

Hart’s debut was met with a flurry of expectations, as many fans believed he was the chosen one. He was the one we have been waiting for throughout all these years. He was the guy supposed to lead the Flyers back to the promised land. Well, on a rather bad team, Carter Hart was very impressive in his rookie season. Playing in the NHL at 20 years old, especially as a goaltender is no easy task. Hart delivered to the tune of a 16-13-1 record along with a 2.83 GAA and a .917 SV%. Keep in mind, this was a bad Philadelphia team playing in front of the young goaltender that season.

Fresh off his strong rookie season, expectations were even higher for the Philadelphia Flyers and Carter Hart entering last season. The belief amongst the fan base was this team was ready to take another step forward, hopefully to at least return to the postseason and win their first postseason series since the spring of 2012, led by their young goaltender. Well guess what? Carter Hart delivered, again. A record of 24-13-3 with a 2.42 GAA along with a .914 SV% helped propel the Flyers to an unexpected trip towards the top of the Eastern Conference. This was powered by an absolutely absurd home record of 20-3-2 for Hart along with a 1.63 GAA and a .942 SV%.