The Philadelphia Flyers are finding themselves in a similar, albeit simpler, goaltender situation as they were in last season. With five goaltenders competing for four spots across the Flyers and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the team needs to decide what it wants to do with its extra goalie, and it looks like that extra goalie could be Anthony Stolarz.
Brian Elliott and Michael Neuvirth will most likely start the season with the Flyers, leaving Stolarz, Alex Lyon, and Carter Hart with the Phantoms. Hart will almost definitely serve as the backup in Allentown, leaving Stolarz and Lyon to fight for the starting spot. Due to his solid season last year and Stolarz’s injury issues, Lyon will probably get the starting nod, leaving Stolarz as the odd man out.
There are a couple directions the Flyers can go with Stolarz.
They could loan him to the Reading Royals like they did for his rehab stint last season. The Royals were logjammed with four goalies last season: Stolarz, Mark Dekanich, Branden Komm, and John Muse. Dekanich is not currently under contract (he was under an AHL contract last season), Komm has been extended an ECHL qualifying offer, and Muse was signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins. If one of Komm or Dekanich doesn’t return to the Royals next season, it would open up a spot for Stolarz to fill. This would allow him to get his game shape back to higher standards while giving him a lot of ice time.
The Flyers would need Stolarz’s permission to be sent down to the Royals, per the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement. Players on two-way NHL contracts have the right to refuse to be sent down the ECHL. He could very easily refuse that.
There is another solution that could work for the Flyers and Stolarz. They could loan him out to another AHL team.
There is no stipulation that states that an NHL team has to loan a player on an NHL contract to the AHL or ECHL team they have an affiliation with. It actually happens more than often than you’d think. For a recent example from 2017, the Washington Capitals loaned Hershey Bears defenseman Darren Dietz to the Texas Stars, and in exchange the Dallas Stars loaned Texas Stars defenseman Mattias Backman to the Bears. Realistically, the Flyers wouldn’t even have to swap players, they could just loan Stolarz to another AHL team. This way, he would still be getting AHL-level ice time and would provide goaltending help to another team.
Last season, the Flyers had to fit nine goalies into six spots across their organization tree. This season, with Dustin Tokarski, Petr Mrazek, and John Muse all departing, the decision only revolves around what to do with one extra goaltending prospect. Stolarz is shaping up to be the odd man out in the Flyers’ top organizations, but that doesn’t mean he won’t get playing time.
The question is really about where that playing time will be.
(Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)
Originally published at SonsOfPenn.com