Flyers head coach John Tortorella is at it again, throwing goaltender Samuel Ersson under the bus by saying he doesn't think that he's an NHL-caliber starter.
Philadelphia Flyers coach John Tortorella has been known throughout his career as having no filter, whether it be dealing with his players or the media; this year, he's also had numerous battles with Russian rookie Matvei Michkov.
And he's at it again, bluntly saying he believes that goaltender Samuel Ersson isn't an NHL-level quality starter and that he's too inconsistent to be more heavily relied upon.
Sam's struggles have nothing to do with how much he's played. Sam has been inconsistent. Our goaltending has been inconsistent. Sam put together I think the end of December into the full month of January, early February, he put together a really good package of games. That's what we're looking for. I think with Sam, as we move forward, we're hoping it's going to be a tandem. We're not going to ask Sam to play 55 or 60 games if he's the guy. I think it's going to be a tandem.
So far this year, Ersson has gone 19-12-4 while posting a 2.96 GAA and a .891 SV%; he also has a pair of shutouts.
Tortorella then went on to explain that he relies on goaltending coach Kim Dillabaugh to gauge Ersson's energy levels and that he may be overworked.
It's a different position now. Back in the day, they played. I look at Vasilevskiy with Tampa, he just plays. I do think sometimes we overthink that. But I'm going to rely on Dilly especially with Sam because Sam has been thrusted into a spot where I just think it's been unfair for him. This organization was set back when things changed with our goaltending situation. Especially with Sam and not allowing him to develop. He's been force-fed a little bit here. So that's where I rely on Dilly in letting me know where he thinks his energy level is. He can see within his game, I can't, that he might be getting sloppy. That's where he says we may have to go with Feds or Koly the next game.It's been unfair to him. I don't think our goaltending has been good enough, I've told you guys that. The numbers bear it out too. But it's been unfair because this organization has been set on its heels in that position, the most important position, because of what happened to it. So we have to take that into consideration also.
Ersson was the 143rd pick by the Flyers in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, and he recently appeared in his 100th NHL contest.
He also represented Sweden in last month's 4 Nations Faceoff.
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