Carter Hart

Carter Hart grew up in Sherwood Park, Alberta, collecting hockey magazines and storing them carefully at his parents' house — magazines featuring a young Carey Price in his first NHL season. Hart was nine years old when Price debuted in Montreal, and that early connection to the Canadiens goaltender would thread through his entire development as a player ^[1].

The Everett Silvertips selected Hart in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft, and he made his debut with the club at age 16. Over his junior career he won the Del Wilson Trophy three times, claimed the CHL Goaltender of the Year award twice, and earned the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy. The Philadelphia Flyers then selected him in the second round of the 2016 NHL Draft, 18th pick of that round, making him the highest-drafted goaltender in that draft class.

Hart arrived in the NHL as a 20-year-old for the 2018-19 season — the same age Price had been when he broke into the league — and appeared in 31 games, going 16-13 with a 2.83 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. On December 18, 2018, he became the youngest goaltender in Flyers history to win his NHL debut.

The 2019-20 season represented a statistical high point in his Flyers tenure. In 43 games, Hart posted a 2.42 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage with 24 wins, the highest single-season win total of his career to that point. During the playoff bubble that year he became the youngest Flyers goaltender to win a postseason game, and Philadelphia eliminated Montreal in the first round — giving Hart a moment he later described as one of his best. After the series, Price crossed over to the Flyers' side of the hallway, chatted with Hart, and gave him a stick used in the game, signed personally to him ^[1].

The 2020-21 season proved more difficult. In a shortened 27-game campaign Hart finished 9-11 with a 3.67 goals-against average and a .877 save percentage. He rebounded in 2021-22, appearing in 45 games — his save percentage returning to .905 — though his record finished 13-24 on a Flyers team that struggled. The 2022-23 season saw Hart set a career high in appearances, starting 55 games and going 22-23 with a .907 save percentage and a 2.94 goals-against average, recording 2 shutouts. In 26 games during 2023-24, he went 12-9 with a 2.80 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage before his season was cut short.

Early in 2024, Hart was placed on an indefinite leave of absence from hockey after being charged with sexual assault in connection with allegations involving members of Canada's World Junior team as part of the Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal. He was acquitted of the charge in 2025. When he reached restricted free agency that offseason, the Flyers did not match his minimum qualifying salary offer, and he was released. On October 16, 2025, the Vegas Golden Knights signed him to a professional tryout, converting it to a two-year contract on October 24.

Through 18 games of the 2025-26 season with Vegas, Hart carries an 11-3-3 record, a 2.71 goals-against average, and an .891 save percentage. His NHL career totals through those games stand at 245 appearances, 107 wins, 96 losses, 32 overtime losses, a 2.92 career goals-against average, a .905 career save percentage, and 6 shutouts over 13,770 minutes and 52 seconds of playing time.

Through it all, the influence of Carey Price remained a consistent thread in how Hart described his own development. In a conversation with InGoal Magazine ^[1], Hart reflected on watching Price so closely that his mental coach, John Stevenson, had to pull him back: "I remember talking with him like 'hey you're not Carey Price, you're Carter Hart. Just be the best Carter Hart you can be.'" The full account of Hart's relationship with Price's legacy — including the warmup he memorized, the drills he borrowed, and the handshake-line conversation he never expected — is part of InGoal's Goalie Day series on the goalies Price inspired ^[1].