Samuel Ersson

Samuel Ersson turns 27 this year, and is from Sweden. He is listed at 6'3" tall. He has four seasons in the AHL with the Flyers, who drafted him in the fifth round in 2018.

He has two full seasons (by today's standards for goalies) in the NHL. He was one of the goalies for Sweden in the Four Nations event, but played in only one game, and he was left off the Olympic team, as they had better options.

By Moneypuck's model this season, he allowed 97 goals on 80 expected and was near the bottom of the list for goalies with at least 25 games played. And if you think that's the final word on him, you've never looked at goalie results, but his prior season was in the same neighbourhood.

Joe Woll, for comparison, and this will be the comparison, has been above average most of his NHL career, but not by much, and until this past season where he was not meaningfully better than Ersson.

Emil Andrae

Emil Andrae is also from Sweden, is a left-shooting defender listed at 5/9" and 194 lbs. He is 24 and was a second-round pick of the Flyers in 2020.

Splitting his time between the AHL and NHL since leaving Sweden in 2023, he's had limited use in the NHL, but did appear in the playoffs for them this year.

HockeyViz likes his defense, and also has him as a positive at offense creation (something to take less seriously with defenders). However, that is in limited minutes.

Evolving hockey also likes his results.

All his NHL time together here.

At a guess, and I will make no claim to having noticed him much, he is a puck mover who can do some transition work. His scouting report from pre-draft is interesting:

Andrae plays with a high work-rate when the puck is close and does whatever he can once he has committed to winning a puck-battle. Andrae walks the line well to open shooting lanes from the point, using his edges and body in an evasive way. He's got excellent vision from the point and can make great plays to set up his teammates with high-danger chances. -EliteProspects 2020 NHL Draft Guide

He's not your in-zone defender, but the comparison here between him and Simon Benoit comes out massively and Andrae's favour. I don't think we should expect him to play a big role, but my personal take is that the removal of Benoit is addition by subtraction.

Cap Hits

Ersson is an RFA with arbitration rights with no current contract. He was at $1.45 million per year for two years.

Woll has two more years at $3.7 million.

The net effect here will be determined when Ersson signs his new deal.

Andrae is also an RFA with arbitration rights and no current deal. He is coming off his ELC.

Benoit is at $1.35 million for one more season.

Both of these arbitration cases will be based mostly on usage by the Flyers in roles they may not have had on a deeper team. It's an interesting trade for John Chayka to make where if he gets these two on good value deals, he has some basic players with potential.

Conclusion

I'm not sure what I think. The choice has been made on the excess of goalies, and that seems to be more about Dennis Hildeby and Artur Akhtyamov than about Ersson. He has the NHL experience the other two lack but AA has the waivers exemption.

The Leafs now have another third-round pick.

Maple Leafs Trades