May 11, 2026

Dan Vladar gave the Flyers every last chance

The Flyers don't make it as far as they did without Dan Vladar, who finally gave the franchise stable goaltending after years of searching.

By Nick Tricome
PhillyVoice Staff

James Lang/Imagn Images

Dan Vladar always gave the Flyers a chance this season.

The Flyers don't make it as far as the second round of the playoffs without Dan Vladar.

And maybe Vladar doesn't push it this far if he never signs with the Flyers in the first place.

The 28-year-old netminder gave them every last chance they could've asked for.

He did it on Saturday in Game 4 with the Flyers were trying to hold on, facing and withstanding 40 Carolina shots into overtime before that last one from Jackson Blake just missed off the top of his glove to end Philadelphia's season in a four-game sweep.

He did it in the first round against the rival Pittsburgh Penguins, too, when he made 27 saves to shut them out in Game 2, then stood even taller to stop 42 more shots in the deciding Game 6, until Cam York sailed the winning puck by deep into overtime.

And he did it down that last, frantic stretch after the Olympic break, when the Flyers rallied to finally make it in, and set the stage for Philadelphia to buy in and fully believe in them again.

He won 12 of his last 19 starts as the regular season, and the last leg of the playoff race, was quickly narrowing down. He posted a .908 save percentage through them, which was the third-best among NHL goaltenders during that span (only Washington's Logan Thompson at .911 and St. Louis' Joel Hofer at .933 were better). And in that second-to-last game, when the Flyers were in a spot to clinch, he held a 2-2 tie up through overtime, then made every last save in the shootout to get the team to that last step through the door.

It was a nearly month-long rush after that, the kind Philadelphia needed to remember what playoff hockey was like after so long going without, and what a young and developing team needed to experience to start to learn how to push it further.

But none of it ever gets as far as it just went had Dan Vladar not been there in the crease.

For a Flyers franchise that has notoriously been on a search for stable goaltending going back decades, Vladar, maybe just as unexpectedly as the team itself, came in and broke through.

He gave them every last chance they could've asked for.

Eric Hartline/Imagn Images

Dan Vladar was one of the NHL's best goaltenders after the Olympic break, and was excellent for the Flyers through their playoff run.

He's a large part of why the Flyers finally made it to the playoffs after almost six years away, why they were able to take down the Penguins once they actually got there, and why they held in there against the powerhouse Hurricanes for as long as they did – all while Xfinity Mobile Arena filled back up for them, got loud over hockey again, and had more than a few fans in the stands wearing Darth Vader masks and holding up red toy lightsabers as a play toward Philadelphia's new favorite goalie.

"He came here, and he was a backup. Nobody really knew much about him, and look what he's done," head coach Rick Tocchet said of Vladar, trying to reflect in the immediate aftermath of that last shot that ended their season on Saturday. "Just goes to show you your mindset – he wanted to be a number one. He worked on it this summer, and he's just a terrific guy.

"I can't say enough about him. Not even leadership, just every day. He's probably gonna blame himself. That's the type of guy he is. It's not even his fault, and he'll say, 'Yeah, I should've had this or that.' He had no chance. So I gotta give him...That's what I love about the guy."

And what the city learned to love about him, too.

Dan Vladar held it down the whole way through. Guys wanted him to remember that. pic.twitter.com/1fn0i9NBAc
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) May 10, 2026

When the Flyers signed Vladar during free agency last summer, general manager Danny Brière sat in front of the press and said he would be coming in to compete to be the No. 1 goaltender.

But at the time, to outside eyes at least, that was a curious statement, because to that point, and as Tocchet noted by the end, Vladar had only ever been a backup.

He played just five games for the Bruins during his first year in 2021, then played in a limited capacity during the next several in Calgary, where the 2021-22 season was his only where he posted a save percentage above .900.

But also at that point, the Flyers just needed someone dependable after heavily inconsistent goaltending effectively sunk them the year prior, while Vladar just needed an opportunity for more, to which fellow Czech and former Flyer Jake Voracek told him would exist for him in Philly.

Both sides took the bet on a two-year, $6.7 million contract signed last July.

It ended up taking them into the middle of May, to the playoffs, past the Penguins, and ultimately up to a buzzsaw in Carolina, granted, but with Philadelphia recognizing that a young Flyers team was on their way up, and that there was finally a reason to believe in them again.

And Vladar gave them every last chance they could've asked for to start to realize that.

"That's another big reason why I wanted to come here to Philly and be a Flyer, because I know how tight this city can be," Vladar said in the locker room, after he and the team left the ice to thankful applause, cheers, and echoing "LET'S GO FLYERS" chants from the home crowd, even after they had just gotten swept. "I'm so glad I got to experience it. Obviously, I'm hungry for more."