Carter Hart

Hart returned in November and soon recorded his 21st career shutout against the Prince Albert Raiders, tying Leland Irving for the most shutout games in Silvertips history.

Carter John Hart (born August 13, 1998) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Born and raised in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Hart began training with a sport psychologist from the age of ten, and played minor hockey in the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League.

Hart was born on August 13, 1998, in Sherwood Park, Alberta, to Shauna and John Hart.

He originally wanted to be a forward like his father, who played for the NAIT Ooks, but found that he enjoyed making saves more than scoring goals.

His parents hired sport psychologist John Stevenson, who previously worked with NHL player Braden Holtby, as a goaltender coach when Hart was ten years old.

From a young age, he idolized goaltender Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens, later admitting to be star struck the first time he faced Price in an NHL game.

Growing up in Alberta, Hart played minor hockey with the Sherwood Park Squires of the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League.

The Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League (WHL) selected Hart in the eighth round of the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft.

He won Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Top Goaltender awards at the end of the 2013–14 AMMHL season, with a 1.92 goals against average (GAA) and a .937 save percentage (SV%).

He made his debut with the Silvertips in 2014 at the age of 16, and was the team's starting goaltender by the end of the season.

In his time with the Silvertips, Hart was a three-time winner of the Del Wilson Trophy, a two-time CHL Goaltender of the Year, and a recipient of the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy.

After Hart was selected in the eighth round (158th overall) in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft, he signed with the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League (WHL) on February 12, 2014.

He made his career start at age 16 in the 2014–15 WHL season opener, recording a 26-save shutout against the Seattle Thunderbirds.

After displacing starting goaltender Austin Lotz in March 2015, Hart finished his rookie season with an 18–5–2–3 record and the lowest GAA (2.29) and second-highest save percentage (.915) in the WHL.

He started every game in the Silvertips' playoff series (including their first-round, triple-overtime win against the Spokane Chiefs), and finished the series with a 2.28 GAA and .929 SV%.

Hart had another successful year in his second season with the Silvertips, recording six shutouts in 21 games and finishing the season with the most wins in the WHL (a 35–23–1–3 record) and a 2.14 GAA.

He received the CHL Goaltender of the Year award, the Del Wilson Trophy for the top goaltender in the WHL, and MVP for the Silvertips organization.

Hart was named a WHL West First Team All-Star for the season.

The Flyers drafted Hart in the second round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft; he was the highest-drafted goaltender that year.

Before the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, Hart was considered a top goaltender prospect.

The NHL Central Scouting Bureau named him the top available North American goaltender in its 2016 midterm rankings, and second in its final ratings.

He appeared in the 2016 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game, playing for Team Orr.

Hart was drafted in the second round, 48th overall, by the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL) – the first goaltender selected in 2016 – and signed an entry-level contract with the Flyers organization on October 2 of that year.

He returned to the Silvertips for the 2016–17 WHL season, winning back-to-back CHL Goaltender of the Week awards in November 2016.

Hart finished the season with a 32–11–6–2 record and led the WHL in goals against average (1.99), save percentage (.927) and shutouts (9), again receiving the Silvertips' MVP award and the Del Wilson Trophy.

Hart missed the first month of his 2017–18 WHL season after contracting mononucleosis, which fatigued him and made him lose 20 lb. He had played only two games, a win against the Kelowna Rockets on September 29 and a loss to the Tri-City Americans the following day, when he was diagnosed.

In addition to receiving the Silvertips MVP award, and the Del Wilson Trophy for the third consecutive year, he was named CHL Goaltender of the Year for the 2017–18 season – the first goaltender in league history to receive the award twice.

Hart received the Everett Silvertips Community Relations Award, and the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy, awarded to the WHL Player of the Year.

He ended his WHL career with an overall 116–46–19 record, a 2.01 GAA, a .927 save percentage, and 26 shutouts.

On December 18, 2018, Hart became the youngest goaltender in Flyers history to win his NHL debut, and in 2020, he became the youngest Flyers goaltender to win a postseason game.

Internationally, Hart has represented Canada at several international tournaments, including the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, IIHF World U20 Championship, and Ice Hockey World Championships.

He recorded his 26th career shutout (against the Vancouver Giants) on February 11, 2018, tying Tyson Sexsmith for the most career WHL shutouts.

Hart finished the season with a 31–6–1–3 record, a 1.60 GAA, a 0.947 SV%, and seven shutouts.

Hart began the 2018–19 season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the Flyers' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, earning his first professional-career shutout on December 10, 2018, in a 1–0 win against the Hershey Bears.

His AHL career was short-lived, since he was recalled by the Flyers a week later after goaltender Anthony Stolarz was placed on the injured reserve list.

Hart was to be one of eight goaltenders used by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2018–19 NHL season, a league record.

He made his NHL debut on December 18 in a 3–2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings, the youngest goaltender since Carey Price to win his NHL debut and the youngest in Flyers history.

Recording his fourth straight NHL win against the Winnipeg Jets on January 28, Hart was the first NHL player since Steve Mason to have four consecutive victories as a starting goaltender before age 21.

He was named the NHL Rookie of the Month on January 29 with a 6–2–1 record, a 2.33 GAA and a .931 SV%, and was named the Second Star of the Week for the week of February 4 with a 3–0–0 record and a six-game winning streak.