Carter Hart turns the page — and the Flyers are better off without him

Carter Hart isn't coming back to Philadelphia - and frankly, that's a good thing. 

Reuniting with Hart was opening up Pandora's box. There was so much uncertainty - both from a performance perspective and from a public relations perspective.

He would have had to come into Philadelphia and been an All-Star level goalie to quiet the detractors. There were no guarantees of that happening. 

And without there being such a guarantee - and frankly, how could there ever be - that juice wouldn't be worth the squeeze.

And Hart knows it, too. 

Yes, the Flyers were interested in seeing if a reunion would make sense, but Hart, through his agent Judd Moldaver, felt that it would be best to resume his career elsewhere.

Asked about the possibility of him coming back, Flyers GM Danny Briere said in a press conference on Tuesday that it was highly unlikely. 

Flyers General Manager Daniel Briere meets with the media ahead of 2025 Training Camp from @FlyersTCenter. https://t.co/9gxsixdYEV

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) September 16, 2025

"The only comment I'll make on that is that his representative, Judd Moldaver, has reached out and kind of told us that in light of everything that happened in the last year-and-a-half with Carter, they felt  - Carter felt - that it was better for them to look for a fresh start," Briere said. "That's where it's at, and it's the only comment I'm going to make on that."

And by fresh start, he means it's likely going to come in a place that provides him a softer landing. Maybe a team that is not in the media spotlight but has some talent and could benefit from a good goalie. 

We mentioned Utah in this space on Sunday when the Flyers traded Ivan Fedotov to Columbus. That seems like the place that makes the most sense. 

Carolina is an option. Anaheim as well. 

But going to a big market or a Canadian market - like his hometown of Edmonton - would unleash a media circus that could distract from the play on the ice, and it doesn't seem Hart is too keen on dealing with that.  

Briere along with President Keith Jones and CEO Dan Hilferty have done a fine job building back the equity the franchise has always had with its fan base. Bringing back Hart would have put an unnecessary strain on the solidity of that equity. 

Why risk that? 

It's not like Hart was knocking on the door of being a Vezina finalist before he left the sport 21 months ago to deal with the Hockey Canada investigation, court hearing and fallout. 

He was a good goalie. Certainly in the top half of the league, but he wasn't among the elites.  He would have had to play like one to make people forget what happened in that London, Ontario hotel room in 2018. 

Yes, Hart and his four Team Canada teammates were found not guilty of sexual assault and other charges. But keep in mind what they disputed - and successfully won their case on - was consent. There was very little push back to the acts that took place that night and additionally, there is now a stigma that hangs over the culture of hockey, especially for teenagers, because of this. 

It wasn't a good look, not guilty or not. There are going to be a lot of people who will let Hart and the other players know that what they did, while not illegal, was not cool. 

That would only be magnified tenfold in Philadelphia. 

It's best to avoid that and move on as an organization. Yeah, it's a bit unfortunate that the Flyers got no compensation for losing Hart and having him sign somewhere else at no fault of their own. They followed league guidance there and took a bigger hit than any of the other teams who had players caught up in the scandal. 

If the league wanted to do a "make good" and throw the Flyers a compensatory draft pick or something to right that wrong, I doubt anyone would bat an eyelash.

But the Flyers also have a slew of young goalies. Sam Ersson is just 25. Aleksei Kolosov will be the lead dog for the Phantoms and may develop better now that he's over himself and is willing to play in the AHL. Carson Bjarnason is making his pro debut next month in Lehigh Valley. 

And the name that well could be the most important goalie in the system is Yegor Zavragin, who at 20 years old is already proved he can play at a high level in the KHL - although he has yet to play a game this season for SKA St. Petersburg, which is odd. I'm told it's not injury related and he's just waiting for his opportunity. Strange that a guy who had a 2.55 GAA and a .912 save percentage in 37 games last season for the same team is in a backup role, but hey - they operate differently in Russia. 

A bit of Holiday magic from Yegor Zavragin 😯 pic.twitter.com/PO7By4B1V7

— KHL (@khl_eng) December 27, 2024

Still, the Flyers are fine depth-wise at the position. They are young, inexpensive, and have a good amount of promise. They didn't need Hart, even though they thought they did. 

But Hart did them a favor by sending a message that he didn't want to come back.

Frankly, it's just better for everybody this way.