Why Jake Allen, Ville Husso could be goalie targets for the Flyers

With NHL Free Agency set to open in a little over a week, many teams are ramping up their strategies for how to improve their teams heading into July 1.

One of the teams in search of better talent is the Philadelphia Flyers. While they have some young scoring threats, including the recently acquired Trevor Zegras, the team needs to get more talent on the back end, especially between the pipes. Though Samuel Ersson has been the backbone for the team for the past couple of years, it might be time for general manager Daniel Briere to take a look at what’s available in the goaltending market once free agency opens.

While there are several pending unrestricted free agents between the pipes, a couple of guys that the Flyers might take a swing at are veterans Ville Husso and Jake Allen. Allen, who spent last season-plus with the New Jersey Devils, posted good numbers backing up Jacob Markstrom this past year, while Husso is looking to find his game after getting buried in the Detroit Red Wings’ depth chart before being traded to the Anaheim Ducks.

On Monday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Carter Hutton joined Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk to discuss why Husso and Allen could be candidates to join Philly’s roster.

Carter Hutton: I do like Ville Husso. I think he’s kind of established his game back, I know it’s a big drop off, and I do think there is a bit of – you get your payday and things fall behind a bit. I also like Jay Allen there, too. Allen could be a good fit there in the sense that he can protect Ersson. He can go in, and I think Samuel Ersson is a very good goalie and has a very big upside. He had 22 wins last year. He played well. I thought he played well when he got a chance in the Four Nations [Face-Off].

I think Jake Allen can come in and kind of be that stopgap to protect them. Again, Jake Allen’s 34 [years old]. I know he’s not going to go in there and his better days are probably behind him, but his fitness level and conditioning…he’s still sustainable for a few more years to really help Ersson get over that gap and become a number one outright guy. 

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…