TSN is reporting that the Flyers have placed goaltender Johan Backlund on waivers, meaning Sergei Bobrovsky will start the season with the Flyers.
Travis Hughes of Broad Street Hockey says:
It’s a calculated risk from the Flyers, for sure. Backlund could be claimed by another team in the next 48 hours, never see the AHL again and go on to be somebody’s next great goaltender. It wouldn’t be a shocker, especially the way the Flyers goaltending past has played out over the last 23 or so years.
That’s definitely a worst-case scenario, but there is a distinct possibility that Johan Backlund’s days in the Flyers organization are numbered. Maybe there’s a reason the only game Backlund played this preseason was one where he was almost guaranteed to fail. Maybe.