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As the Olympic Men’s Hockey Tournament rolls along, it feels like it’s been a month since the Philadelphia Flyers played. However, when once the Gold Medal is awarded on February 23, they will begin a wind-sprint to the end of the season in April.
With that in mind, Flyers Thoughts will take a look at several pressing areas of business for general manager Daniel Briere. And one of those involves his starting goaltender Daniel Vladar.
One of Briere’s Offseason Success Stories
Vladar signed a two-year contract with an average annual value of $3.35 million on July 1. It was an interesting decision for Briere to take a chance on him at the time.
The 28 year old Czech goalie had been a 2015 third round pick of the Boston Bruins and had been considered a potential goalie of the future for them. However, he posted underwhelming NHL numbers for them and was traded to the Calgary Flames during the 2021 offseason.
After being an understudy to Jacob Markstrom, he had an opportunity to seize an NHL starting job when the Flames they dealt Markstrom to New Jersey. With a hip injury, he struggled in the role prior to the Four Nations Face-Off tournament, eventually giving way to Calder Trophy finalist Dustin Wolf.
However, he played well in spelling Wolf down the stretch and wanted to look for another chance with a different team once he entered free agency.
Enter the Flyers.
Considering how poorly Philadelphia’s goaltending was during the 2024-25 season, a marriage of mutual convenience was made.
“He wanted to come to Philly,” Briere said at the time of Vladar’s signing. “He told us very on early on that he wanted to come and compete in Philadelphia, so we jumped on it.”
Considering what Vladar has provided for the Flyers this season, the decision to bring Vladar on board has paid dividends.
Vladar’s Adjustments Trigger Career Season (So Far)
At the beginning of the season, the Flyers goaltending situation was an open-ended question. Incumbent Samuel Ersson was coming off a very underwhelming season. Aleksei Kolosov was entering his second season after struggling in his first North American campaign. And Ivan Fedotov was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
So there’s little question that the door to a starting job was open for Vladar. However, one of the biggest concerns was his previous seasons’ workload. He had never played more than 30 games in an NHL season. As such, he knew he needed to make adjustments to be able to make that jump a reality.
Speaking with NBC Sports Philly’s Jordan Hall, Vladar credited his goalie coach Radek Jiratko back home in Czechia in changing his mentality.
“He had an honest talk with me, we just sat down, had a couple of drinks and he just told me what he felt like was going to help me,” Vladar said. “Especially with a new opportunity to come here, I just wanted to take advantage of it and get ready as much as I could.”
Once he arrived in Philadelphia, the next adjustment came in making physical adjustments and getting feedback from his teammates.
“If they shoot on me, they score on me, I just try to ask them, ‘Was there a lot of room there? What did you see?'”
Becoming A Team Leader
In putting together those adjustments, Vladar has proven that he was ready to take the next step. He has started a career high 32 games with a 2.47 goals against average and a .905 save percentage. He has surrendered two or less goals in 20 of those starts.
But perhaps even more important, he’s become one of the team’s leaders, as Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet recently pointed out.
“He’s a leader,” Tocchet said, after the team’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings on January 31. “He came by our bench, he said, ‘Guys, why are you holding your head down? Let’s go here.’ I love that, it’s good to hear that. He’s our goalie and has a lot of character. He has been like that all year.”
He’s also been lauded for his on-ice communication with his defensemen, as Travis Sanheim noted in a recent article by The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz.
Put those developments together and it wasn’t a surprise that Vladar was named to the Czechia team for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Why An Extension Should Happen Sooner, Not Later
The Flyers are certainly fortunate that they were able to secure Vladar on a two year contract and have him under team control through next season. And they have certainly reaped the benefits.
Per MoneyPuck.com, Vladar is currently ninth in the NHL in Expected Goals Against Per 60 Minutes (with a minimum of 30 games played). In addition, he’s sixth in expected Goals Against Average with a 2.72 xGAA.
Beyond Vladar’s performance, one look at the goaltending situation behind him should be all the motivation they need to secure him to a long term extension beyond 2027. Put simply, they have a lot of uncertainty and it’s highly likely that they will be in market for a new back-up goalie for next season.
While Ersson has had glimmers of performance, his 3.51 goals against average and .856 save percentage in 24 games put him in jeopardy of losing his back-up role. The only reason he hasn’t was because Kolosov was even worse in limited NHL action (4.00 GAA, .830 save percentage in four games played).
Rookie Carson Bjarnason is plying his craft in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. With a 3.08 GAA and .889 save percentage, he needs to refine his game before he’ll be under NHL consideration.
And of course, their top prospect is 20 year old Yegor Zavragin. The 2023 third round pick is in his first KHL season with SKA St. Petersburg (2.63 GAA and .919 save percentage).
Put simply, the pipeline for goaltending is thin at the moment.
What An Initial Offer Should Look Like
So it really behooves Briere and company to consider for what a Vladar extension should look like and begin the process.
The view here is that an initial offer should be around three to five year range with an average annual average between $5 million to $6 million. Such a contract would carry Vladar through his prime years and ensure their mutual long term security in net.
A counter-argument can be made that they shouldn’t rush to re-sign Vladar. That the Flyers should see wait until next season to see if he can replicate his current form. However, if the Flyers have plans to make substantial moves in the near future to enhance their roster, they should ensure Vladar is a part of it.
With the salary cap expected to rise over the next few seasons and teams hunting for starting netminding, the Flyers are fortunate that they have a good one in place.
As such, they should strongly consider making sure that they keep Vladar for the foreseeable future.
