Samuel Ersson (born 20 October 1999) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player who is a goaltender for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the fifth round of the 2018 NHL entry draft.

Playing career

Sweden Ersson played as a youth with Falu IF before joining the Brynäs IF organization of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) in 2015. He made his debut for the organization in the 2015–16 season. He spent three seasons with Brynäs' J18 and J20 teams, but in 2018–19, chose to transfer to Västerås IK to play in the HockeyAllsvenskan. He put up a record of 27 wins and 9 losses (27–9–0) with a goals against average (GAA) of 1.95 and a save percentage of .933 as the team finished third in the league. Ersson was awarded the Guldgallret, which recognizes the best junior player in HockeyAllsvenskan, for his play during the 2018–19 season. He signed a contract to return to the Brynäs IF organization for the 2019–20 season. In his first season with Brynäs in the SHL in 2019–20, he put up a record of 14–20–0, with a GAA of 2.90 and a save percentage of .895 and one shutout. However, on 15 March 2020, the Swedish Hockey Association cancelled the remainder of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In his second season with Brynäs in 2020–21, he put up a record 16–26–0 with a GAA of 2.96, a save percentage of .910 and three shutouts. However, Brynäs faced relegation and faced HV71 in the playout. Brynäs won the series and remained in the SHL.

Philadelphia Flyers Ersson was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL) in the fifth round. 143rd overall, of the 2018 NHL entry draft. On 3 June 2021, Ersson was signed by the Flyers to a three-year, entry-level contract. He began his professional career in North America with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the Flyers' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, but only played in five games of the 2021–22 season due to injuries, one of which required groin surgery. In the five games, he had a record of 0–3–1 with a GAA of 2.96 and a save percentage of .893. Ersson started the 2022–23 season on the Flyers bench after backup Felix Sandström began the season injured. However, after Sandström returned from injury, he was assigned to Lehigh Valley on 16 October without having appeared. He was recalled again on 21 December and made his NHL debut on 23 December, in a 6–5 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. He would get pulled in the second period to be put back in later in the game; however, Carter Hart would be handed the loss. Ersson got his first NHL win on 29 December, in a 4–3 overtime win over the San Jose Sharks, and would get his first shutout against the Buffalo Sabres on 9 January 2023. He was returned to the AHL on 20 January after Sandström returned to the Flyers from Lehigh Valley. He was recalled twice more during the season and finished with a record of 6–3–0 with a 3.07 GAA and a .899 save percentage with the Flyers. In 42 games with Lehigh Valley, he had a 24–17–1 record, a 2.84 GAA, and a .900 save percentage with one shutout. The Phantoms made the playoffs but were eliminated by the Charlotte Checkers in the opening round. In three playoff games Ersson registered a 1–2–0 record with a GAA of 3.71 and a save percentage of .875.

On 5 August 2023, Ersson signed a two-year, $2.9 million contract extension with the Flyers. He opened the 2023–24 season as Hart's backup. However, after Hart left the team in January 2024, Ersson took on a larger role. In his first full NHL season, he had a 23–19–7 record with a 2.82 GAA and a .890 save percentage in 51 games with four shutouts. In his second season with the Flyers in 2024–25, Ersson began the season as the team's starting goaltender, backed up by Ivan Fedotov. However, Ersson was nagged by injuries throughout the season and Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov's play forced head coach John Tortorella to return to Ersson more than the team planned on. Ersson finished the season with 47 games played and a record of 22–17–5 with a GAA of 3.14 and a save percentage of .883 with two shutouts. In the offseason, the Flyers signed free agent goaltender Daniel Vladař to help stabilize the position. Vladař won the team's starting role for the 2025–26 season with Ersson as his backup. Ersson's play continued to deteriorate as he was the poorest goaltender by statistical standards in the NHL at the Olympic break in the league schedule. Following the break his play improved and he helped the team make the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs. He finished the regular season with a record of 14–11–5 in 33 games with a GAA of 3.12 and a save percentage of .870. He did not play in the playoffs as the team was eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round.

Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators On 16 June 2026, Ersson was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, alongside defenceman Emil Andrae and a 2026 third-round pick, in exchange for defenceman Simon Benoit and goaltender Joseph Woll. Ten days later, the Maple Leafs traded Ersson to the Ottawa Senators, in exchange for a 2027 fifth-round pick. A restricted free agent, the Senators did not give him a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent. He later signed a two-year, $4.4 million contract with the Senators on 1 July.

International play

At the junior level, Ersson represented Sweden at the 2019 World Junior Championships. He went 3–1–0 with a 2.23 GAA and a save percentage of .922.

He was part of the Swedish roster at the 2021 World Championship, but did not see any playing time. Ersson again represented Sweden at the 2024 World Championship, where he won a bronze medal as part of a tandem with Filip Gustavsson.

He was named to the Swedish 4 Nations Face-Off roster, replacing New Jersey Devils goaltender Jacob Markström. Ersson started in one game at the tournament, a 2–1 victory over the United States, where he made 32 saves against 33 shots.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP W L OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 2016–17 Brynäs IF J20 8 5 2 1 455 16 0 2.11 .932 — — — — — — — — 2017–18 Brynäs IF SHL 1 0 0 0 40 2 0 3.00 .882 — — — — — — — — 2017–18 Brynäs IF J20 23 16 7 0 1,380 58 1 2.52 .916 5 2 3 297 22 0 4.44 .857 2018–19 Västerås IK Allsv 44 27 9 0 2,158 70 5 1.95 .933 — — — — — — — — 2019–20 Brynäs IF SHL 35 14 20 0 2,010 97 1 2.90 .895 — — — — — — — — 2020–21 Brynäs IF SHL 42 15 25 2 2,353 116 3 2.96 .910 — — — — — — — — 2021–22 Lehigh Valley Phantoms AHL 5 0 3 1 264 13 0 2.96 .893 — — — — — — — — 2022–23 Lehigh Valley Phantoms AHL 42 24 17 1 2,512 119 1 2.84 .900 3 1 2 194 12 0 3.71 .875 2022–23 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 12 6 3 0 645 33 1 3.07 .899 — — — — — — — — 2023–24 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 51 23 19 7 2,809 132 4 2.82 .890 — — — — — — — — 2024–25 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 47 22 17 5 2,602 136 2 3.14 .883 — — — — — — — — 2025–26 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 33 14 11 5 1,867 97 0 3.12 .870 — — — — — — — —SHL totals 78 29 45 2 4,403 215 4 2.93 .904 — — — — — — — —NHL totals 143 65 50 17 7,923 398 7 3.01 .884 — — — — — — — —

International Year Team Event Result GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% 2019 Sweden WJC 5th 4 3 1 0 242 9 0 2.23 .922 2024 Sweden WC 4 3 1 0 208 5 0 1.44 .891 2025 Sweden 4NF 3rd 1 1 0 0 60 1 0 1.00 .970 2025 Sweden WC 5 4 0 0 259 5 2 1.16 .934Junior totals 4 3 1 0 242 9 0 2.23 .922Senior totals 10 8 1 0 527 11 2 1.25 .929

References

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