Carter Hart’s career with the Flyers came to an end on Sunday.
The 25-year-old goaltender, who became a restricted free agent amid a sexual assault case, did not receive a qualifying offer from the Flyers. As a result, Hart became an unrestricted free agent.
In early February, police in London, Ontario, announced they had charged Hart and four other players on Canada’s 2018 World Junior team with sexual assault, stemming from a June 2018 incident.
Hart’s legal representation stated in late January that “he is innocent and will provide a full response to this false accusation in the appropriate forum, a court of law.”
The goaltender had been away from the Flyers since Jan. 23, when he requested and was granted an indefinite leave of absence.
The possibility of Hart returning to the ice at any point during the 2024-25 season seemed increasingly unlikely. Hockey Canada’s sexual assault case is set to return to criminal assignment court on Aug. 13, the same day Hart turns 26, and no trial start date has been set.
With his three-year, $11.937 million contract set to expire, Hart became a restricted free agent during the offseason. The Flyers could have retained his NHL rights had they made him a qualifying offer, but they opted not to and cut ties with the 2016 second-round Draft pick who had been considered their franchise goaltender.
The club plans to begin training camp in September with Samuel Ersson and Ivan Fedotov forming their goalkeeping tandem.
Restricted free agents Egor Zamula and Bobby Brink received qualifying offers, essentially starting the process of negotiating their new contracts.
The Flyers did not issue tenders to prospects Mason Millman and Will Zmolek, making them unrestricted free agents along with Hart.
Hart’s career in Philadelphia began with great promise. He made his NHL debut at age 20 and went on to win eight straight games, tying the NHL record for most consecutive wins by a goaltender before turning 21.
The following year, he helped lead the Flyers to the 2020 playoffs, going 24-13-3 with a 2.42 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage during the regular season. In the postseason, Hart went 9-5-0 with a 2.23 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage, giving him the best GAA of a Flyers goaltender with five or more starts. in one playoff run since Roman Cechmanek in 2003 (2.14 GAA in 13 starts).
In 2023-24, Hart started his fifth consecutive season opener for the Flyers. It turned out to be his last with the club.
Free agency begins Monday at noon Eastern time. Aside from inexpensive depth pieces, the Flyers are unlikely to be very active given their tight salary cap.
“We don’t expect to do much on free agency day,” general manager Danny Briere said last week. “The reality is that we have a lot of dead money heading into the second year of my mandate, but that was also the plan. We acquired assets that will help us in the future, such as national teams. Therefore, this summer is going to be difficult. Next time “Summer should be a little easier, but we’re still going to be in a bit of a crisis.”
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