Ersson’s getting the net tonight, and honestly this feels like one of those “show us it’s real” starts. He's had genuinely strong games against Colorado and Vegas, along with a mostly okay Utah game, mixed into a very uneven stretch, and at this point it’s hard to tell what we’re actually looking at. Is he settling in? Is the team structure in front of him tightening up? Or is this just a short heater in the middle of a season where his overall numbers are still rough? With Vladar coming back soon and the Flyers in a tight race, this isn’t just another random January start, I think this is about whether the staff can trust Ersson to give them stable goaltending down the stretch instead of wild swings from .960 to .700 in the span of a week.
At the same time, there’s a related question that doesn’t get talked about much, which is what’s the plan with Hunter McDonald? He was called up on Jan 17 and still hasn’t made his NHL debut. I’m not saying he should be playing 18 minutes a night, but he’s a 23-year-old, 6’4”, 235 lb defenseman who already logged a full AHL season last year and big minutes again this year. If he’s just here as emergency depth, fine, but then he’s not playing in Lehigh either. If the coaches don’t feel he’s ready, that’s fair, but then sitting in the NHL press box doesn’t exactly help development. It feels like he’s stuck in that in-between zone where a young player isn’t developing in the AHL and also isn’t getting NHL reps.
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McDonald was called up simply as cover. If Risto starts tonight he probably will go back to the phantoms. Though I’d have preferred to see him over Juulson at least in a couple of games
Ersson’s game against Col was an anomaly and nothing more. And I wouldn’t worry about McDonald. He’s 23, defenseman take a while to develop, I believe he’s in the flyers future plans and I genuinely hope he pans out.
The HMac disrespect in this organization is absolutely disconcerting. They know now that they should have drafted Cale Makar instead of Nolan Patrick. But! They now have a better defenseman than Makar right here in the organization but he *isn’t NHL ready*. Give me a break!
To add, McDonald also gets paid NHL salary while called up. Could be just a good gesture to have him train with the NHL guys, get a bit of extra cash, and then get sent down after tonight with Risto coming back
McDonald sitting in the pressbox is a non issue.
It’s a bit funny to look back on how much Jones was hyping up McDonald early on
Goalie is probably the most mentally taxing position the ice. 100% there has been a confidence change somewhere in the last couple weeks cause Ersson clearly has a different swagger on the ice.
You just never know w/ goalies sometimes. Look at Grubauer. When he was on the Caps, people were saying he’s sneaky better than Prime Holtby. Then he gets his FA bag and kinda looks mid. Made eligible for Seattle and gets SENT DOWN. Now look at him this season, he’s one of the best goalies this season along w/ Daccord.
So, I’m just hoping Ersson was in a funk. Don’t expect him to be Elite material but all that’s asked is not be a liability and he wasn’t one during the road-trip. In fact, he helped them win. Just help.
Dude spends half the Phantoms games in the penalty box for taking terrible penalties. Plays physical, but I can’t recall the last time he did something outstanding to deserve NHL time