Will Hart bounce back with the new D in Philly?

[BigDaddyLurch]

...Philly's D is still bad imo, so poor Hart may be in for another loooong ass Season...

 

[Dumpster Flyers]

The only person Hart has to blame for his play last season is himself. A better D may boost his underlying stats, but a "bounce back" year will solely depend on his individual performance. With that in mind, the answer is "who knows?"

 

[biturbo19]

I'm not even sure a lot of it is that contingent on Philly's defense having improved. More important, is probably just whether Hart is going to be able to get himself back into the right mental space to bounce back or not. Goaltending is such a mental game, which can be fragile, especially for such a young guy with such "hype" and expectations. That situation last year was a mess that seemed a bit of a feedback loop of disaster. Shoddy defensive play, shaky goaltending, plummeting team morale overall just circling and racing each other down the drain.

So...i'm a believer in Hart. The talent is clearly all there. But predicting whether or not he'll be able to get his game mentally back to where it needs to be this year, is a total shot in the dark. I can see the significant reconfiguration in front of him helping inspire a rebound in confidence. But if things start to go a little bit sideways out of the gate with a bumpy start to the season...it could get ugly fast.

 

[Sempiternal]

Talent wise I voted Yes. I think he's one of the best young goalies in the NHL. Unfortunately, there is some sort of goalie curse in Philadelphia. I bet you Andrei Vasilevskiy would even struggle there.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

what dyou think?

Prov-Ellis
Risto-Sanheim
Braun-Yandle
Morin, Seeler

Ellis is an improvement but Risto and Yandle are ticking timebombs on defense.

I said sub standard year. Philly needs to improve their team defense, not just defensive pairings. I don't think they did that enough even with the addition of Atkinson.

 

[Stewie Griffin]

It's crazy how a few years back I remember how insane I thought the Flyers D was going to be with Provorov, Sanheim, Ghost, Morin ,etc. all looking like great prospects. Just shows you how insane development curves can be...and why prospects shouldn't be overrated as much as they are.

 

[jetsforever]

Middling stats probably

 

[jiggy35]

I think a mild comeback, not really because of the changes on D but just should naturally improve for such a young goalie

 

[Mac Attack]

This young man is talented but he seems nervous. I believe he should be sent down to the AHL to regroup. He's only what, about 19 years old? He has plenty of time to improve but after such a disastrous season, he needs to regain his confidence.

He will be 23 before the season begins.

 

[The Moose is Loose]

This young man is talented but he seems nervous. I believe he should be sent down to the AHL to regroup. He's only what, about 19 years old? He has plenty of time to improve but after such a disastrous season, he needs to regain his confidence.

He is 23....

 

[StoneHands]

I get Andrew Raycroft vibes from Hart. He'll be on a different team next year and out of the league in 3 years

There are literally zero parallels between Hart and Raycroft.

Raycroft was a good junior goalie.
Hart was one of the best junior goalies of the past 20+ years.

Raycroft was a 5th round Pick.
Hart was a 2nd and the first goalie taken in the draft.

Raycroft was a rookie at 23 years old.
Hart was a rookie at 20 years old.

Raycroft put up significantly better numbers in his rookie season than he ever did in juniors or the AHL so he was bound to come back to earth.
Hart's numbers have always been better than last season so he's bound to bounce back, at least somewhat.

Raycroft had 1 good year in the lowest scoring season in the modern NHL and then the lockout came and changed the way the game was played. A lot of players saw drastic differences before and after the lockout.
Hart had two promising seasons and then a condensed, Covid shortened season with very little practice time to get back to basics. A lot of players had down years.

I just don't see the similarities here.

 

[John Johnson]

I wonder if Hart had more time to develop that he would be a lot better. If the Flyers didn't need a goalie so bad all the time he might've turned out a lot better instead of being rushed into the starter role.