The Philadelphia Flyers’ decision to trade Ivan Fedotov to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 2026 sixth-round pick on Sunday provided clarity in a position that’s been anything but straightforward in Philadelphia.

The goaltending depth chart is now a little more streamlined, but it still leaves questions about whether the Flyers will stay committed to that structure and the players currently in it.

The NHL Tandem: Ersson and Vladar

The most likely outcome is that Sam Ersson and Dan Vladar split the crease at the NHL level. (And no, the Fedotov trade does not open up considerations for the Flyers to reunite with Carter Hart. Every credible report that has come out clearly suggests that Hart will not be signing in Philadelphia.)

Ersson, 25, already has a reputation as calm and dependable, even though his numbers have not been where he has said he wants them to be. He's shouldered a large majority of the starter responsibilities, often while the team in front of him was inconsistent, and has not had a consistent backup to take some of that load off (whether that be because of coaching decisions or lack of available talent).

"I'm a big believer in Sam Ersson. I think that Sam is in a position now age-wise and being pushed by the depth at that position now, that it's going to benefit him. I think that Sam is going to stand up to the test here this year."

- Keith Jones

— Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) September 10, 2025

Vladar, 28, acquired from Calgary this summer, represents a different profile. At 6-foot-5, he brings size and NHL experience but also carries the need for a reset after uneven years with the Flames.

If the Flyers are disciplined, this tandem can work well. Ersson can have a more manageable workload and have space to properly evolve, while Vladar has the chance to reestablish himself without the pressure of being a true No. 1.

What cannot happen, though, is the stop-start rhythm of a three-goalie system that plagued last year. Goalies need continuity, and both Ersson and Vladar deserve the opportunity to build it.

The Wild Card: Another Three-Goalie System?

Even with Fedotov gone, it’s not out of the question that the Flyers experiment with another three-goalie setup. Injuries, waiver considerations, and management’s desire to keep as many options as possible sometimes push teams in that direction.

But if last season proved anything, it’s that such an approach comes at a cost.

Carrying three goaltenders may sound like depth, but it often results in none of them finding a rhythm. Ersson, Fedotov, and Aleksei Kolosov all experienced stretches where they sat too long between starts or were thrown into games without consistent preparation. It created uncertainty for the coaching staff and frustration for the players. If the Flyers want progress, they’ll need to avoid repeating that cycle.

The AHL Tandem: Bjarnason and Kolosov

In Lehigh Valley, the focus shifts from stability to development. Carson Bjarnason’s transition to the professional game will be closely monitored. The 20-year-old has impressed with his composure, and that mental steadiness will serve him well in the AHL. The priority for him isn’t just wins and losses but learning the pace, traffic, and grind of pro hockey.

Aleksei Kolosov enters his second year in North America with his own ambitions. Athletic and aggressive by nature, he has made it clear that he wants to be an NHL goalie, but the reality is that he still needs to refine his game to the smaller rink and faster decision-making of the AHL.

Balancing Bjarnason’s need for heavy reps with Kolosov’s ever-precarious situation will be one of the Phantoms’ biggest tasks this season.

The Outlook

Trading Fedotov simplifies the Flyers' goaltending picture, which has too often featured clashing colors, messy brushstrokes, and drawn intense criticism from museum-goers.

Ersson and Vladar deserve to get the consistency they need at the NHL level, while Bjarnason and Kolosov gain meaningful minutes to develop in the AHL. Whether the Flyers stick to this structure or experiment with another three-goalie system will be worth watching, but for now, the organization seems to be taking steps toward a clearer framework.

It’s not a flashy setup, and it doesn’t come with guarantees. But compared to the uncertainty that has long defined Philadelphia’s crease, a season of clarity might be exactly what the Flyers need.

As the Ottawa Senators enter the final day of rookie camp with a game against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday night, some of the top prospects have stepped up, as you might expect.

For example, defenseman Carter Yakemchuk and forward Stephen Halliday were seen as the two rookies at this camp most likely to have a long stay at main camp this month, and they combined for a tidy five points in a 4–3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs rookies on Saturday.

That said, neither of those top prospects has been the best player at this rookie camp so far. That title, according to B-Sens head coach David Bell, goes to winger Xavier Bourgault. After the first skate on Thursday, Bourgault's name was the first one Bell mentioned when asked which players stood out on day one. Following Saturday’s victory, when asked about "Borgy," Bell again couldn’t say enough good things about him.

"He's been really good since the start of camp," Bell said. "  I think he put a lot of work in this summer. He's finally healthy, he's stronger, and he's probably been the best player at camp for this group so far. He's been really strong this year."

In fairness, Bourgault has a serious advantage in an event like this. At 22, it's not his first rookie camp rodeo. With his draft pedigree and experience, he's supposed to be a top player at this level, the same way overaged players tend to thrive in the junior ranks. But that doesn't affect Bell's belief in Bourgault's ability and "very high" hockey IQ.

"Like I've said before to people, offensive guys come into my office and they ask to play with Xavier because he's very, very good at distributing the puck. I absolutely see him as a guy that's going to come in this year confident, healthy, with familiarity. Being traded as a young guy is always tough. I think he's going to have a big year."

Yakemchuk Shines as Senators Rookies Edge Leafs in Prospects Showdown OpenerOttawa Senators prospect Carter Yakemchuk wasted no time making his presence felt at the 2025 Prospects Showdown in Montreal. The 19-year-old defenseman scored twice and added an assist as the Senators opened the four-game rookie event with a 4–3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday afternoon at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Bourgault was the Edmonton Oilers' first-round draft pick at the 2021 NHL Draft, then returned to junior that season and dominated, putting up 75 points in 43 games with Shawinigan. He spent the next two years in the AHL before being traded last summer, along with Jake Chiasson, for winger Roby Jarventie.

Sens GM Steve Staios knew Bourgault fairly well as a player before either of them landed in Ottawa. Staios worked in the Oilers' hockey operations department in 2022-23, Bourgault's first year as a pro. And his Hamilton Bulldogs faced off twice against Bourgault and the Cataractes at the 2022 Memorial Cup, where Bourgault finished fourth in tournament scoring.

In his first year in the Sens organization, Bourgault certainly wasn't at his best, posting just 26 points in 61 games in Belleville. But according to Bell, there was a good reason for that.

"I think part of it last year, which is what he struggled with, was that he was hurt," Bell said. "He had a hip flexor that was sore. He had a wrist that was sore.

"He's very dynamic and can shift east-west when he's healthy, and he wasn't able to do that last year. And as a shooter and passer with a sore wrist, he couldn’t do that. He was handcuffed quite a bit. Now he’s healthy, and you’re seeing a little bit more of what he was in junior — a dynamic, game-breaking type of player."

Staios still hasn't lost belief in the player either. Despite Bourgault's modest production last season, the Sens re-signed him to a one-year deal over the summer. But with Ottawa's roster of forwards all but carved in stone for opening night, it's unlikely that Bourgault will displace anyone in the top 12. But Bell thinks Bourgault will give the club a lot to think about. 

"I think right now he has his confidence. So if he can keep going with that in these games, and then have a good start to the season, he’ll get some consideration."

By Steve Warne
This article first appeared at The Hockey News-Ottawa

More Sens Headlines From The Hockey News Ottawa:
Report: Alex Formenton's NHL Eligibility To Be Restored On December 1st
Sens Unveil Rookie Camp Roster For Games This Weekend
Senators GM Steve Staios On Why He Brought Back The Same Group
Can The Senators Still Avoid Losing Their 2026 First Round Pick?
Ottawa Senators Radio Play-By-Play Team Won't Travel To Road Games This Season

The Nashville Predators are 2-0 in the NHL Prospect Tournament down in Tampa, but have been without one of their top players. 

Defenseman Tanner Molendyk has not played in either of the Predators' games against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday or the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.

He was reportedly injured during Predators pre-tournament practice on Thursday, leaving the ice and not returning. 

After a dominant season in the Western Hockey League, making it all the way to the Memorial Cup championship game, Molendyk has the potential to make the Predators roster at the upcoming training camp. 

 He played with the Saskatoon Blades for 21 games, scoring 21 points. Midway through the season, he was traded to the Medicine Hat Tigers and scored 26 points in 28 regular-season games with the Tigers.

Medicine Hat went on a run in the playoffs, winning the Western Hockey League championship and making it all the way to the Memorial Cup title game. Molendyk had 20 points in 18 playoff games and was named to the Memorial Cup All-Star team. 

While it's reported that Molendyk is "day-to-day," it is more likely he will sit out the prospects tournament in order to be fully healthy for the start of training camp on Sept. 18. 

Predators undefeated in NHL Prospect Tournament 

Reid Schaefer gets us the W in the final 30 seconds 👏 pic.twitter.com/rEgvPBHXJQ

— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) September 13, 2025

The Predators' prospects have shone bright in Tampa this weekend, remaining perfect through their first two games. 

On Friday, it dispatched the host Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1. Joakim Kemell (2022, 17th overall) scored off a long-range snapshot to tie the game at 1-1 in the second period. In the third period, Brady Martin (2025, 5th overall) scored the game-winning goal on a penalty shot. 

The Predators returned to the ice on Saturday to face the Carolina Hurricanes. After going down 1-0 early, Cole O'Hara (2022, 114th overall) redirected a shot from the point into the net to tie the game late in the second period.

Carolina took the lead back in the third period, but a nice move by Kalan Lind from the forehand to the backhand tied the game up. In the final minute, Reid Schaefer tapped in a pass from Ryan Ufko (2021, 115th overall) to give the Predators a green light to a 3-2 win.

Nashville will play its final game of the NHL Prospect Tournament on Monday against the Florida Panthers at 11 a.m. CST. The game can be watched on the Nashville Predators website. 

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One Fine Goodfellow - Sept. 25 2017 - Collector's Edition - Ken Campbell

(LE STUDIO DU HOCKEY/HHOF IMAGES)

WHEN THE DETROIT Red Wings retired Nicklas Lidstrom’s No. 5 three years ago, they ensured no player would ever wear that digit on the back of their sweater while wearing the winged wheel on the front. But there are some who insist Lidstrom shouldn’t have been wearing that number in the first place.

That’s because it once belonged to a player by the name of Ebbie Goodfellow, the forgotten superstar in a pantheon of alltime Red Wings greats. Before there was Steve Yzerman and Pavel Datsyuk, or even Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay, there was Goodfellow, who not only starred for Detroit but did so at two positions. In fact, Goodfellow goes back so far with the franchise that he played in the last season that the team was known as the Cougars and the two seasons it went by the Falcons.

Goodfellow was a big, scoring center for the Red Wings who led the Canadian Professional League (the precursor to the AHL) in scoring in 1928-29. Two years later, he finished second in NHL scoring to Montreal superstar Howie Morenz. But when Wings GM Jack Adams asked him to move back to defense in the middle of 1934-35, Goodfellow did so without complaint and without missing a beat. As a defenseman, he helped Detroit to back-to-back Cups in 1936 and ’37 and was a first-team allstar twice, including in 1939-40 when he became the first Wings player to win the Hart Trophy. “He wasn’t a really flashy player,” said hockey historian Bob Duff, author of several books on the Red Wings. “It was the same with guys like Alex Delvecchio and Marcel Pronovost and even Red Kelly, who didn’t get the same kind of recognition Howe, Lindsay and (Terry) Sawchuk got.”

Goodfellow put up some impressive offensive numbers on a weak team through the first five seasons of his career, but Adams noticed he was beginning to slow down. The Wings already had some homegrown scoring stars in Larry Aurie and Herbie Lewis and had added established NHL marksmen when they acquired Cooney Weiland in 1933-34 and Syd Howe the following season. With plenty of firepower already up front, Adams approached Goodfellow with the idea of moving to the blueline. “I once read the newspaper story about the game when he moved back to defense, and they just talked about how seamless it was,” Duff said. “He went back there and played like he had been doing it for years. And he was one of those guys who didn’t get a lot of attention. It was almost like Lidstrom. He didn’t get a lot of attention for the first half of his career because he was a guy who went out there and played really steady and never made any mistakes.”

HE WENT BACK THERE AND PLAYED LIKE HE’D BEEN DOING IT FOR YEARS – Bob Duff, hockey historian

The character and sacrifice Goodfellow showed in the move to the blueline convinced Adams of his leadership qualities and he was named the Wings captain.

In his final NHL season, Goodfellow served as a player-coach for the team and became the last player-coach to win the Stanley Cup when the Red Wings captured it in 1943. Reports at the time indicated that it was assumed Goodfellow would take over as the Wings coach, but that never materialized. Instead, he went on to coach the AHL’s St. Louis Flyers for three-plus seasons in the late 1940s before taking over the Chicago Black Hawks for two moribund seasons in the early 1950s.

Lest you think him too good a fellow, it should be noted Goodfellow was once fined $100 by referee Bill Stewart. The first $50 was for “calling (Stewart) a bald-headed so-and-so and then emphasizing it by calling him a such-and-such,” according to newspaper reports of the day. The other half of the fine was levied for sticking his tongue out at the referee. “That’s $50 more,” Stewart reportedly told Goodfellow. “Nobody can stick their tongue out at me.”

For his part, Goodfellow was quoted as saying, “That’s the way it is with referees. When they can’t think of an answer, they fine you.”

Goodfellow was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1963. He died in 1985 at age 78. Sportswriter Baz O’Meara had this to say about his nomination: “Ebbie was a fine good-looking fellow, a hard checker, a clean player and a fine ice general. He could be classified as a gentlemanly type though he was no namby-pamby hockey player. He was a beautiful skater and a fine stickhandler. As a center he rated right up with the top talent, and he was a standout defenseman.”

A Goodfellow and a great player, to be sure.

Sandin Pellikka Ranked 21st in Controversial NHL Network Top 25 Prospects ListRed Wings prospect Axel Sandin Pellikka mentioned in controversial prospect rankings list made by NHL Network. 

EAST MEADOW, NY -- It's hard to temper expectations when talent is clearly evident. While many may be thinking this is about Matthew Schaefer — he's going to be a really special player — it's Maxim Shabanov who stole the show on Sunday at New York Islanders rookie camp.

Shabanov Talks Signing With Islanders & MoreToday was the first day we spoke with the Islanders big offseason signing out of Russia.

The 24-year-old is obviously on the older side when it comes to prospects, but taking part in rookie camp has been a good test for someone who has never played the North American game.

Shabanov is standing out, as he should be, going up against younger players who don't have the professional experience he has.

Whether it's his edge work and skating, his on-the-tape passing ability (whether he's looking or not), his heavy shot to the top corners with ease, or just the way his creative mind works coming up and down the ice, he seems to have all the tools to overcome his 5'9" stature.

"I guess you can knock his size, but you've got to be able to catch him," Islanders prospect Kashawn Aitcheson said. "He's super highly skilled, and he's super strong too. He can hold his own. He's not a flimsy guy. He's kind of a man already. So, yeah, I think he'll do just fine."

Exclusive: Islanders’ First-Rounder Kashawn Aitcheson Talks Physical Edge, Leadership & DevelopmentEAST MEADOW, NY -- During Day Two of New York Islanders Rookie Camp, it was hard not to notice No. 17 overall pick Kashawn Aitcheson.  His cross-overs were sharp. His shot was on the money. And you could see his excitement once the physical drills were introduced. 

The question of whether he can handle the NHL's physicality or just the overall skill of the greatest league in the world remains to be seen. So it's important to temper expectations until we see how he looks in main training camp, which opens next Thursday, and how he fares in his preseason slate.

But if he proves he can handle the physicality, the Islanders have a secret weapon and potentially — potentially — a perfect linemate for Mathew Barzal.

"He's as silky as it gets," Islanders prospect Matthew Maggio told The Hockey News. "I had a great time just getting to play with him and go down with him on 2-on-1s. And he's a super fun guy to play with, and I look forward to hopefully getting some more time together. He's just such a smart player. Some of the best hands I've ever seen. Everyone saw the heel drag that he pulled off. Not many guys are pulling stuff like that off, so clean too. He's gonna be a good player."

Shabanov shenanigans. #Islespic.twitter.com/cd8WjSKhXw

— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) September 14, 2025

How's the language barrier?

"He's not a guy that's quiet," Maggio said. "Even just playing with him in the 4-on-4, we're coming, he's coming back to the bench and saying what he wants. He wanted me to swing with him and stuff like that. So he's trying. And, I mean, that's really all you can ask for."

Who is better to ask about Shabanov than a goaltender?

"He's very skilled. He's got a good shot," goalie prospect Burke Hood told The Hockey News. "He finds a way to pick the corner and seems to find the back of the net on every shot."

As for the heel drag that Maggio mentioned: "Something I honestly didn't expect to see."

Prospect and Long Island native Ross Mitton told me on Saturday that he looks like a mini Kucherov out there.

Here's what Bridgeport and rookie camp head coach Rocky Thompson had to say about Shabanov following Sunday's skate:

"His skill set is good. I thought he checked good," Thompson said. "Like I said the last time, what was impressive was the fact that his checking ability is good, and it should be, because he's such a good skater. But he's taken some pride in those types of things, and he's competitive. You can kind of see that within the drills that there is a competitiveness to him, which is great, and it's not something that you can teach. It's an instinctual thing, which is wonderful.

"So he's done a good job, but you can see some of the puck ability stuff in the 1-on-1s. So that's going to be fun when he starts to play the hockey games, because then you can start to see how these skills translate in a five-on-five environment."

Training camp opens Thursday, and that's where Shabanov will have to prove just how big of an impact he can make.

As mentioned, let's temper expectations. But that doesn't mean Islanders fans can't be excited about what could be a tremendous acquisition.

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After just one full NHL season, the Philadelphia Flyers have traded goalie Ivan Fedotov to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 2026 sixth-round pick.

Fedotov, 28, was the odd man out in Philadelphia after the Flyers had gone out and signed goalie Dan Vladar in free agency to back up incumbent starter Sam Ersson.

By moving on from the once-promising 6-foot-8 Russian, the Flyers save a whopping $3.275 million in cap space, preventing any potential future issues that could arise due to injury, for example.

Fedotov played 26 games for the Flyers last season, starting 24 and posting a 6-13-4 record, a 3.15 GAA, and a .880 save percentage.

Report: Carter Hart Will Choose New NHL Team Soon, Flyers Reunion UnlikelyAccording to a report, former Flyers goalie Carter Hart is nearing a return to the NHL, but that return isn't expected to be in Philadelphia.

After joining the Flyers and leaving KHL outfit CSKA Moscow in 2023-24, Fedotov went 0-1-1 in three appearances with a 4.95 GAA and .811 save percentage, starting strong in his debut but faltering in his next two matches.

Fedotov's last win as a Flyer came on March 31 against the Nashville Predators, saving 28 of 29 shots (.955)  in a narrow 2-1 victory.

The Flyers now have $2.695 million in cap space, according to PuckPedia, and figure to go into the season with a goalie depth of Ersson, Vladar, Carson Bjarnason, and Aleksei Kolosov.