Felix Sandstrom wasn't given many opportunities to succeed, and that's reflected in his statistics.
Felix Sandstrom wasn't given many opportunities to succeed, and that's reflected in his statistics.
The Philadelphia Flyers' 2022-23 season offered very few positives to speak of. The team ranked 23rd in goals against, 29th in goals scored, 26th in penalty kill efficiency, and dead last on the power play. By just about every metric, the Flyers were horrendous.
Except in the goaltending department.
Carter Hart, the Flyers' No. 1 goalie, was outstanding for much of the season, even though his numbers appear average at best on paper. Rookie netminder Sam Ersson raised some eyebrows thanks to his strong start, winning six straight games after a rough NHL debut against the Carolina Hurricanes in December. And, of course, Felix Sandstrom, Hart's primary backup, also put together his fair share of solid outings. However, Sandstrom was often thrown into some extremely difficult spots, and his play suffered because of it.
Season In Review
Take a look at Sandstrom's numbers from the 2022-23 season and you'll likely come away horrified. And for good reason. Without question, they were terrible.
A 3.72 goals against average. A .880 save percentage. An appalling 3-12-3 record in 18 starts.
Simply abominable.
But those numbers don't tell the whole story. The 26-year-old often played much better than the statistics show. He was just always stuck playing behind a team less than a day removed from its last outing.
Of Sandstrom's 18 starts during the 2022-23 season, nine of them came on the second leg of a back-to-back. And in those contests, the Flyers averaged just 2.3 goals per game.
No goalie would earn many wins with such lackluster goal support, so it should come as no surprise that Sandstrom's win-loss record was so poor.
However, taking on those difficult assignments is part of a backup goalie's job. And when given those tough tasks, Sandstrom just wasn't able to get the job done.
Sandstrom has one year remaining on his contract, and he'll likely compete to serve as Hart's backup again next season. But given the emergence of the younger, highly-anticipated Ersson, nothing is guaranteed for Sandstrom, and it's not unrealistic that he'll spend most of the 2023-24 season playing in Lehigh Valley.
Standout Moment
On November 8 — a night when Hart was a late scratch due to an illness — Sandstrom filled in as the Flyers' backstop and guided them to a 5-1 rout over the St. Louis Blues, giving him his first win as an NHL goaltender. He made 27 saves in the contest.
Simply shocking that he played so well behind a rested team that hadn't played less than 24 hours before puck drop, right?
"He's such a good guy," Travis Konecny said of Sandstrom after the game. "Even the games before, he was standing on his head for us, and we just couldn't get it done for him, so it's nice to finally get it done."
Bottom Line
Being a backup goalie in the NHL is a thankless job. The assignments are tough, and the margin for error is minimal. Sandstrom, to his credit, did what he could in the chances presented to him, but he just wasn't up to snuff on most occasions, regardless of how the team in front of him was playing. With more favorable assignments, perhaps his numbers would have been better. But until he gets another opportunity, he'll likely be viewed as the No. 3 goalie behind Hart and Ersson.
Verdict: /
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and NHL.com.