Flyers Announce Starting Goalie Carter Hart Is Taking Indefinite Leave Of Absence

The Philadelphia Flyers are currently second in the tightly-packed Metropolitan Division, but their quest to make the playoffs despite being in a full-rebuild mode just got significantly trickier with news that starting netminder Carter Hart will take a leave of absence from the team.

The club announced the news on social media Tuesday afternoon.

"Carter Hart has requested and been granted an indefinite leave of absence citing personal reasons," the statement from general manager Daniel Briere reads. "The club will have no further comment at this time."

That's a tough break for the team that has already had some off-ice drama lately. Hopefully, all is well on Hart's end as he takes care of things off the ice.

The Flyers will lean on Samuel Ersson even more with Carter Hart away from the team. (Photo by Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images)

Samuel Ersson Will Deputize For Carter Hart In Flyers' Starting Role

The Philadelphia Flyers running into some goaltending issues is not a new problem. It has plagued them for the better part of nearly three decades. However, Hart has been solid this year, but what makes this loss survivable for the Flyers has been the play of Hart's backup Samuel Ersson.

Ersson has started 22 games to Hart's 26 and has a slightly better save percentage at .909 than Hart's .906. Furthermore, his 2.36 goals against average and 3 shutouts are both better than Hart's this season.

Of course, it's worth noting that Hart has been given a heavier workload and typically gets the nod against better opponents.

The Flyers have had one of the better tandems in the league this year, so while Hart is a major loss for however long he is away from the team, Errson will do a fine job as the defacto starter during this stretch.

Hart missed a few games earlier this year with illness, and during that stretch, the team recalled goalie Cal Peterson from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

The Flyers will host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. Errson — who was reported to be the starter before the news of Hart's absence — will be in net.

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