{"id":437506,"date":"2026-01-31T04:23:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T04:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/437506\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T04:23:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T04:23:21","slug":"flyers-could-explore-trade-options-for-samuel-ersson-pro-hockey-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/437506\/","title":{"rendered":"Flyers Could Explore Trade Options For Samuel Ersson \u2013 Pro Hockey Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

At one point this season, it looked as though the Philadelphia Flyers might be buyers, not sellers, in the lead-up to the 2026 NHL trade deadline. First-year head coach Rick Tocchet had the club primed to make a run to the playoffs, a clear step forward in the team\u2019s retooling process.<\/p>\n

Those Flyers look like a distant memory at this point, though, as the team has lost three consecutive games and endured a 2-7-1 stretch in its last 10 contests. They currently sit 10 points behind the Boston Bruins for the Eastern Conference\u2019s final wild card spot, and eight points behind the New York Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division.<\/p>\n

The Flyers\u2019 downturn has shifted the focus on the team heading into the trade deadline. Instead of identifying potential targets around the league the team might add, the Flyers now look more like a team that will subtract from its roster, rather than add. Last week, The Athletic\u2019s Kevin Kurz reported<\/a> the Flyers were likely to have a \u201cquiet deadline\u201d unless a potential core player, perhaps at their key position of need, center, becomes available.<\/p>\n

One name the Flyers could end up moving on from is netminder Samuel Ersson<\/a>. Kurz wrote regarding Ersson that it \u201cfeels like it\u2019s time for a change of scenery<\/a>\u201d for the player and club. There don\u2019t appear to be a large number of goalies available for trade at this time, and the key name on the market, Jesper Wallstedt<\/a> of the Minnesota Wild, figures to have a significant price tag attached.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For most teams, acquiring Ersson is a far more realistic possibility than shelling out high-end assets to land Wallstedt. Of course, Ersson isn\u2019t of the same caliber of talent as Wallstedt, but that doesn\u2019t mean he doesn\u2019t have what it takes to help an NHL team.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old has been relied upon heavily by the Flyers over the course of the last few years.<\/p>\n

The Swedish netminder played in 51 games in 2023-24, earning the vast majority of starts after the team\u2019s No. 1 netminder, Carter Hart<\/a>, became unavailable in the middle of the year.<\/p>\n

He struggled at times, and his final save percentage of .890 certainly isn\u2019t strong, but there were moments in the season where he showed the kind of talent that gave the Flyers faith brighter days could be ahead.<\/p>\n

The following season, Philadelphia again trusted Ersson to be their leading man in the crease, as he played in 47 NHL games, the most of any netminder in the organization. Once again, Ersson showed flashes, but those quality starts began to become more infrequent. His final statistics regressed even further, as he finished with an .883 save percentage, and was one of the league\u2019s weakest goalies in several metrics.<\/p>\n

The Flyers signed Dan Vladar<\/a> to stabilize their goaltending this past summer, and Vladar has validated their investment with a strong 2025-26 campaign. But while Vladar has stood out this year, Ersson\u2019s struggles have persisted. Through 24 games this year, he has just an .856 save percentage, the lowest among netminders with at least 15 games played in 2025-26.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s fair to question, given his poor numbers and highly inconsistent performance over the last few years, whether other NHL teams would truly be interested in adding Ersson. But the netminder is a pending arbitration-eligible RFA with a cap hit of just $1.45MM.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s likely to be one of the more experienced netminders readily available for trade at this point in the season, and can likely be acquired for a relatively low cost.<\/p>\n

If a team is confident in its goaltending department, and believes it can maximize Ersson\u2019s talent in a way the Flyers have thus far been unable to, he could end up on the move.<\/p>\n

Ersson could also be a fit for a team looking to simply enhance its depth at the position, especially if an injury strikes. If a team in the playoff race loses a netminder to injury at some point between now and the trade deadline, Ersson\u2019s name will be one to watch.<\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At one point this season, it looked as though the Philadelphia Flyers might be buyers, not sellers, in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437507,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5112],"tags":[1468,5,4,1467,56,5205,5360],"class_list":{"0":"post-437506","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-flyers","8":"tag-flyers","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-philadelphia","12":"tag-philadelphia-flyers","13":"tag-philadelphiaflyers","14":"tag-samuel-ersson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115987809178929181","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}