Church,
Carter Hart is a 22 year old goalie who is viewed as a good prospect but like other young goalies, he has struggled and been inconsistent. Earlier this year he gave up 4 or more goals in 3 straight games, including 6 and 7 to the Bruins, and broke his stick and stormed off the ice after one of those losses, behavior that was called unprofessional.
22 years old is very young to be thrust into starting in the NHL and his development is being force fed. My opinion on goalies generally is that with a few exceptions, they generally play their best after years of development and on the north side of 30. Goalies are like young talented MLB starting pitchers, who take years to learn how to refine their pitches, their command of the strike zone, and their general understanding of what pitches to throw in what counts to what hitters. Similarly with younger goalies, their weaknesses are quickly learned and exposed and they have to work with their coaches to adjust their techniques to eliminate repeated goals, for example on the stick side or through the wickets. Scouting reports tell players where to shoot and goalies like Hart have to make adjustments or they find themselves back in the minor leagues of hockey.
Take Marc Andre Fleury, at age 36 he is having the best season of his career. He was a highly, highly touted and highly drafted young goalie prospect who for years was viewed as a major disappointment. He was solid, but not a star. Only since he went to Vegas has he taken his game up a notch and he was by then well into his 30s. Tim Thomas had his best years in his 30s and same with Dominik Hasek, one of the great goalies in NHL history. Very rarely do you see anyone dominate from age 22. Carter Hart in my opinion may be a very good goalie in 5 years but the Flyers, due to their severe goalie problems, force fed this kid who was not ready and now he is having to deal with the shock of adversity, 9 goal games, etc., and either it will toughen him up and make him better or not. I suspect he is not done taking his lumps and he will not emerge as a top and consistent goalie for another 5 years. And in the meantime the Flyers aren't going anywhere and the Rangers may soon overtake them. In fact I predict the Rangers will overtake them.
Another guy who was highly drafted and highly touted was Semyan Varlamov. He is now 32 and only recently became a highly effective and consistent goalie. In the playoffs last year he was incredible and played his best hockey. But he has been around in the NHL since he was 20. He played the best hockey of his career last year and this year.
