Flyers sign 2023 second-round pick

The Philadelphia Flyers have signed goalie Carson Bjarnason to a three-year, entry-level contract, per a team announcement. The salary figures for the contract have not been announced yet.

Bjarnason was a second-round pick of the Flyers in the 2023 NHL Draft and one of the first players to earn an ELC from that draft year. He played the 2022-23 season with the Brandon Wheat Kings, earning a record of 21-19-6 in 47 matchups. He posted a 3.08 goals-against average and .900 save percentage as the Wheat Kings’ starting goalie.

Bjarnason was Canada’s starting goalie at the 2023 U-18 World Championship in Switzerland, but struggled out of the gate with a difficult result against Sweden. He kept the starting job though and helped lead Canada to the medal round, where they won bronze over Slovakia. Bjarnason was injured in the semifinal, also against the Swedes, but otherwise had a solid performance.

"You have to take WHL goaltending stats with a grain of salt because the games are typically high-scoring, but Bjarnason was rarely the reason why the Wheat Kings lost a game,” Daily Faceoff’s prospect analyst Steven Ellis said. “He had some good showings to get Canada into a medal position in April, too. Some scouts think he was the best goaltender on the market, while others weren’t convinced. Either way, he has the tools and traits you seek from a young goaltending prospect, and it was a great pickup by the Flyers at the draft.”

Bjarnason is set to return to Brandon this year and hopes to lead the team back to the WHL playoffs for the first time since 2021-22. The Flyers have a crowded crease both in the present and future. Carter Hart is the clear starter but Cal Petersen and Felix Sandstrom are fighting it out for the backup role. Behind them are Ivan Fedotov, who could come over to North America in the near future, Samuel Ersson, who had a solid showing the NHL last year, and Aleksei Kolosov who is playing in the KHL.