Hart will become a restricted free agent at the end of the 2023-24 season.

It's the dead of summer, but the Philadelphia Flyers will be gearing up for training camp before we know it. In preparation for the preseason, we've created the Summer Sampler series, in which we'll be analyzing every key player on the Flyers roster. We'll assess where each player stands ahead of the 2023-24 season and project what their respective roles will be for the upcoming campaign. Stay tuned throughout the summer for each Flyer's individual evaluation in the lead-up to training camp.

As the Flyers enter the first full season of their rebuild, Carter Hart remains the club's unquestioned primary backstop. The 25-year-old has established himself as a no-doubt-about-it No. 1 NHL goaltender in spite of the subpar roster playing in front of him, but with the Flyers likely to make more significant roster changes in the coming year(s), Hart's 2023-24 campaign just may the most important of his young career if he wishes to remain in Philadelphia.

How did Hart perform in 2022-23? While the stats didn't exactly show it, Hart was once again stellar for the Flyers last season. Playing behind a horrendous Flyers back end that consisted of a regressing Ivan Provorov, an ineffective Tony DeAngelo, a faulty Travis Sanheim and an overpaid Rasmus Ristolainen, Hart still managed to log a 2.96 goals against average, a .906 save percentage and a 22-23-10 record in 55 games of action.

Again, not exactly stats that jump off the page, but still quite impressive given the less than ideal circumstances.

At the end of the season, Hart was deservedly awarded the Bobby Hart Trophy as team MVP, as well as the Gene Hart Memorial Award and the Toyota Cup. Hart was one of the only bright spots on the Flyers' roster last season, and without him, the team very well could have finished the campaign with the worst record in hockey.

Read more about Hart's 2022-23 season here.

What should fans expect from Hart in 2023-24? Hart will continue to serve as the Flyers' top netminder this season. Unfortunately, the defense he'll be playing behind might be just as bad as the one from 2022-23 — if not worse.

Provorov, DeAngelo and Justin Braun are all out of the fold. For various reasons, their departures may actually prove to be positive for the Flyers in the long run. But for this season, the Flyers are turning to the likes of Sanheim, Ristolainen, Sean Walker, Cam York and a 36-year-old Marc Staal to man the blue line.

A back end like that probably won't be doing Hart many favors.

Barring a miraculous turn of events, expect Hart to continue standing on his head while his numbers suffer because of poor play from his teammates.

What does Hart need to prove? At this stage, Hart doesn't exactly need to prove much. He's a bona fide No. 1 goalie who's stuck playing for a bad team. Now, he just needs to decide whether or not he wants to be part of the Flyers' future.

Hart will become an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent at the end of the 2023-24 season. At such a young age, it's plausible Hart could be traded for a king's ransom at some point within the next year or so — an attractive concept given the state of the Flyers' rebuild.

There's also the possibility that Hart remains with the Flyers beyond this season. Good goalies are hard to find, especially for a Flyers franchise plagued by poor play in the crease. Hart has said all the right things since the end of the season, and judging by his end-of-season comments, he may not be totally against being part of the solution as general manager Daniel Briere continues to shake up the roster.

"I love playing for this city. I love playing for this organization. I'm very grateful for everything they've given me and the opportunity that I've had here," Hart told the media during his exit interview.

"I think with the young guys we have coming up and the promise they started to show toward the second half of the season, I think it looks bright, our young core of guys. I think Danny Brière is gonna be the guy to turn things around and get this ship going the right way."