Dan Vladar is absolutely torching the net for the Flyers right now—pun intended, since he’s been the wall they desperately needed early in the 2025-26 season. The 28-year-old Czech netminder, who inked a two-year, $3.35M AAV deal with Philly back in July after four seasons backing up Dustin Wolf in Calgary, has wasted zero time establishing himself as the go-to starter under Rick Tocchet. He’s 3-2-0, but don’t let the record fool you—the guy’s been lights-out:
| Game | Opponent | Result | SV% | Goals Allowed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | @ Vegas | W 4-2 | .941 | 2 |
| 2 | vs Florida | W 3-1 | .923 | 1 |
| 3 | @ Seattle | W 5-2 | .938 | 2 |
| 4 | vs Vancouver | L 2-3 (OT) | .909 | 3 |
| 5 | vs Ottawa | L 1-2 | .939 | 1 |
- Overall: 1.75 GAA, .929 SV%, +2.4 goals saved above expected (16th in NHL).
- He’s allowed 2 or fewer goals in every start, ranking 4th league-wide in GAA and 8th in SV%.
- Teammates like Tyson Foerster and Travis Sanheim have shouted him out post-game, with Vladar himself humbly noting after the Ottawa loss: “It’s our job [as goalies] to give our team a chance every night. Tonight it wasn’t enough.” But 31 saves on 32 shots? That’s more than enough—he’s just not getting the puck luck in tight games.
Vladar saw Philly as his shot at a true No. 1 gig (he’s never topped 29 starts in a season), and he’s delivering. Samuel Ersson’s struggled (3.88 GAA, .849 SV% in his 2 starts), so expect Vladar to keep rolling into November—no back-to-backs on the horizon means he’ll probably snag 4+ more starts soon.
Some fans are calling Vladar the early MVP and the official account hyping his post-game vibes. If the boys in front keep clearing lanes like they have (team’s allowed just 18 goals in 7 games total), Vladar could be the spark that pushes this rebuild squad toward a wild card.
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