Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Flyers add Calvin Pickard to their crowded goalie list days before season opener

With two goalies already injured and two inexperienced ones, the Flyers bolster their depth behind Brian Elliott.

Maple Leafs goalie Calvin Pickard making a save during a preseason game against the Sabres on Sept. 22.
Maple Leafs goalie Calvin Pickard making a save during a preseason game against the Sabres on Sept. 22.Read moreAdrian Kraus / AP

The Flyers claimed goaltender Calvin Pickard off waivers from Toronto on Tuesday, a clear sign they were not comfortable beginning the NHL season with a 33-year-old goalie attempting to rebound from two surgeries and a 24-year-old one with two knee surgeries and seven NHL games on his resume.

Pickard, who has one year left on a contract that pays him $800,000, has played 80 more NHL games than Anthony Stolarz has, and was once considered a big part of the Colorado Avalanche's future between the pipes. Now 26, he was part of a Toronto Marlies team that defeated the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the Calder Cup last spring.

The Flyers do not have to make a roster move, having cleared Taylor Leier through waivers earlier Tuesday and assigned them to the Phantoms.

Pickard will likely back up Brian Elliott when the Flyers begin their season in Las Vegas on Thursday. He was 21-9-1 with the Marlies, with a 2.31 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage. With the rebuilding Avs from 2014-17, he was 28-44-6 with a 2.77 GAA and a .914 save percentage. He played in just one game for the Leafs last season.

The addition of Pickard likely means that Stolarz is headed to Lehigh Valley to back up Carter Hart. With Michal Neuvirth and Alex Lyon both expected to return from injuries in the not-distant future, the rest is unclear.

>> FROM SEPTEMBER: Injuries push Anthony Stolarz and Carter Hart closer to NHL dream

What is clear is what Flyers general manager Ron Hextall has been saying since he began camp with five goaltenders: You can never have enough of them.

There is a chance the Flyers will put Stolarz on waivers Wednesday and attempt to send him to the Phantoms.

Pickard was selected by Hextall when was he was the GM for Team Canada in the 2017 World Championships. Pickard helped the team win a silver medal.

>> FLYERS SEASON PREVIEW: Ivan Provorov is trying to create 'his own mold'

The Flyers' goaltending situation is murky. Elliott had core-muscle surgery in February and hip surgery in the offseason. He played solidly in his final preseason tune-up Saturday in Boston.

Lyon and Neuvirth are sidelined with injuries, and Stolarz played just four minor-league games last season after undergoing two knee surgeries.

 >> NHL SEASON PREVIEW: Players to watch, Vegas odds and predictions