VOORHEES, N.J. — Any discussion about the Philadelphia Flyers’ goaltending this season has to begin with how atrocious it was last season.
Thus, a brief reminder of the numbers: an .872 save percentage, dead last in the league, 22 percentage points lower than the median Edmonton Oilers (.894). At five-on-five, no better: .890, also last in the league. Analytically, the Flyers allowed 45.8 more goals than expected — a ridiculous 28 more than the next-worst Nashville Predators, according to MoneyPuck.
Really, it had nowhere to go but up, particularly after the Flyers finally realized neither Aleksei Kolosov nor Ivan Fedotov could handle even spot backup duty at this stage of their careers.
And while the “it’s still early” caveat is still very much in play at this stage of the 2025-26 season, there’s reason to believe the Flyers’ goaltending is better. Maybe even much better.
It starts with Dan Vladar.
The 28-year-old, who joined the Flyers on a two-year, $6.7 million deal as a free agent, finds himself fourth in the NHL in save percentage (.932) and third in goals-against average (1.81) ahead of Monday night’s games. Vladar has started five of the Flyers’ eight games, allowing two or fewer goals in each of them. He’ll presumably be in net when the Flyers host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night in an early-season meeting between Metropolitan Division clubs off to better-than-expected starts.
Coach Rick Tocchet gave Vladar the net on opening night in Florida on Oct. 9 in what was a bit of a surprise decision, particularly after both general manager Daniel Briere and president of hockey operations Keith Jones expressed vociferous support for Samuel Ersson in the lead up to training camp. Vladar has rewarded his coach’s faith and seems to be emerging as the go-to guy, for now.
“I just love his work ethic and his attitude,” Tocchet said recently. “A timeout, he’s cheering the guys on. You can just tell he’s come in this year dialed in. Whether he wants to prove people wrong, I don’t know. … He just looks really solid, even in practice.”
Former Flyers goaltender Martin Biron, a 16-year NHL veteran, watched the entirety of Vladar’s 31-save performance in Ottawa, a 2-1 Senators win. Biron — who had Vladar behind only Jake Allen on his list of best potential free agent options over the summer — sees a guy who is in better control of his 6-foot-5, 209-pound frame.
“Looks a lot more calm in net this season,” Biron said. “I remember him being a little more out of control at times, but much better this year.”
Whether Vladar can maintain his current level, or at least close to it, will be something to monitor in the coming weeks and months, particularly as the Flyers’ schedule ramps up. Tuesday’s game begins a stretch that will see the Flyers play seven games over 12 days.
Remember, this is a goalie who has never started more than 29 games in a season, which he did last season for the Calgary Flames. For Vladar to emerge as a true No. 1 option, he’s going to have to handle a workload that’s much more significant than it has been at any other time in his career.
He’s confident he can do it. Vladar mentioned that watching and being around Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak in Boston when he was a young prospect with the Bruins — who drafted him in the third round in 2015 — taught him some lessons that he carries to this day, both mentally and from a recovery standpoint.
“I just remember their emotions after a game. They were still on the same level, it didn’t matter if they lost,” Vladar said. “They still came and worked. As the season goes on and you play more and more games, you’re not going to stay the full hour and a half (on the ice) every single day (for practice). You can go out for 20 minutes and still get the same value as if you were there for an hour.”
Tocchet is cognizant that Vladar has never shouldered the burden of being a No. 1 goalie. In his view, there’s only one way to find out if he can handle it.
“Can Vladdy run five or six in a row? I don’t know. He’s never done it before,” Tocchet said. “But if you don’t try, how would you know? If his play drops, that’s when you know.”
Vladar settling in, if he’s able, could have a welcome trickle-down effect, too. Ersson, despite his below-average numbers (3.50 GAA, .861 save percentage), reminded everyone in the Flyers’ 4-3 shootout win over the New York Islanders on Saturday afternoon that he can still make key saves at vital times himself.
Samuel Ersson’s stats this season aren’t stellar, but competing with Dan Vladar could be the best fit for him. (Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)
At some point, Ersson is going to have to do a better job on the midrange shots that have sometimes plagued him throughout his career. Of the 11 goals he has allowed this season, two, while not routine, were arguably stoppable. But they also came from NHL co-goals leader Mark Scheifele in the Flyers’ 5-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 16, and Simon Holmstrom, who has probably the best shot on the Islanders, on Saturday on a short-handed rush.
But the Flyers don’t earn the extra point in the shootout Saturday without some of Ersson’s late heroics. He made a 10-bell blocker stop on Jonathan Drouin in the third period that kept it 3-3, followed by a flashy glove save on Bo Horvat in overtime in which he was able to anticipate Drouin sliding the puck to his right to Horvat off the rush.
Ersson’s numbers last season weren’t much better than his two miserable backups (3.14 GAA, .883 save percentage). But he did manage to win as many games as he lost, posting a 22-17-5 mark for a team that finished with the fourth-worst record in the league.
That continues to be the number he’s focused on more than any of the others.
“When you come down to it, that’s all that matters, right? Did you win or did you lose?” Ersson said Monday. “I’m pretty happy overall with where my game is, actually.”
After Carter Hart departed the organization midway through the 2023-24 season, Ersson has been the only NHL-quality goaltender on the roster through the end of last season, as none of Kolosov, Fedotov, Cal Petersen or Felix Sandstrom is even in the league at the moment. That only increased the pressure on Ersson. It was an unfair position for a young goalie to be thrust into.
Consequently, Vladar doing what he’s doing so far offers Ersson a different perspective. Rather than being the guy with whom the team will sink or swim, Ersson is now going to have to keep up with his teammate if he wants to see the net on a regular basis.
That’s something he figures can help drive him — just like it did two seasons ago, when he was splitting time in a generally effective tandem with Hart.
“(Vladar has) been playing unbelievable, obviously,” Ersson said. “I think that’s what you want. You want to play the hottest guy. That’s the best thing for the team and for me, too. I think that kind of pushes me to try to get better every day. I love competition, so it’s good.”