The Philadelphia Flyers have added some more goaltending depth to the organization, signing Samuel Ersson to a three-year, entry-level contract. The young netminder is coming off a strong year with Brynas in the SHL. Flyers assistant GM Brent Flahr released a short statement:
We’re excited to get Samuel under contract with the Flyers. He’s steadily progressed since his draft year and has had success in junior, the SHL and at the International level. We look forward to watching his continued development as he makes the transition to North America.
Ersson, 21, was the team’s fifth-round pick in 2018, 143rd overall. At that point, he had played just a single game at the SHL level but had dominated at the junior level in Sweden and put up strong performances internationally. The next season he would take his game to the Allsvenskan (second tier) and post a .933 save percentage in 36 appearances, winning Goaltender of the Year and MVP. After an up-and-down transition to the SHL in 2019-20, Ersson was back with a vengeance this season, posting a .911 in 46 regular season appearances and then a .949 in the relegation round.
There’s a lot to be excited about when it comes to the 6’2″ netminder, even if Philadelphia already has their young star netminder in Carter Hart. Ersson’s development path has been downright perfect to this point and the next step is proving his talent on North American ice. He’ll likely get that chance next season, but even if there is a hiccup at first, he has proven he’ll continue to work in order to raise his performance.