Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
We all had the luxury of spending the first half of this season giving Dan Vladar credit for turning this Flyers team around. So it only makes sense that in his absence we share the frustration of watching the team regress.
The extent and severity of the current free fall is the surprising part. It’s been epic and we may not have seen rock bottom just yet. It lends credibility to anyone who was giving Vladar his well deserved accolades. But who could have predicted he would leave such a cavernous void. It’s a shock but not a surprise.
By the numbers
With Dan Vladar between the pipes this season the Flyers are 16-7-4. The team’s record without Vladar manning the net is 6-10-4. The Flyers are 47 games into the 2025-26 season. Their overall record is 22-17-8.
Vladar is holding down a 2.46 GAA with a .905 SV%. Samuel Ersson has a 3.46 GAA with a .855 SV%. Aleksei Kolosov has a 4.00 GAA with a .830 SV%. Kolosov got the start yesterday against the visiting NY Rangers and let in three goals on three shots before being pulled giving him a .000 SV% for the day.
On January 6th 2026 the Flyers record was 22-12-7. Forty-one games into the season they had just defeated the Ducks in a very feisty tilt and were just two points out of 1st place in the Metropolitan Division. Flyers Fever was spreading like wildfire. That was less than two weeks ago.
1/8 Vladar allowed 2 goals in the overtime loss to the Leafs.
1/10 Ersson got lit up for 7 goals in the 1st game of the back-to-back against the Bolts.
1/12 The Lightning hit Vladar up for 4 goals in game two.
1/14 Vladar gave up 2 goals to the Sabres before leaving the game injured after the 1st period. Ersson came in and allowed 2 more. Including the empty netter Buffalo scored 5 goals on 16 shots. That was just days ago.
1/15 The Penguins scored 3 goals on Ersson and 3 more on Kolosov.
1/17 The Rangers scored 3 goals on Kolosov and 3 more on Ersson. To his credit Ersson made a few spectacular saves in this game but it wasn’t enough.
The Flyers have been outscored 31-12 over the course of the 6 game losing streak. We’re all well aware that the outcomes have been quite lopsided but it’s interesting to note that the Flyers have actually outshot their opponents 148-146 over that stretch.
It’s contagious
Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of blame to go around. “Flyers Twitter” reads like an obituary and not all of it is totally without merit. Some are ready to burn the whole thing down to the studs based on a six game losing streak which is a little extreme to say the least.
The goaltending issue is huge but the team is falling apart away from the net as well. It’s one thing when one of your guys is snake bitten, it’s another thing altogether to pull an entire team out of a free-fall.
A lot about winning in ice hockey involves confidence, poise, and swagger. Not over-thinking every tiny detail is key. It’s about getting into “zone” and finding the “flow”. Teams in a tailspin possess none of these qualities.
You know the energy boost you feel when you see a goaltender make that 10 bell save? Every player on the team feels that as well. On the other hand, you know the goal that makes you turn off the TV and go to bed? The unobstructed wrist shot from the top of the circle that erases any chance at a comeback? Every player on the team feels that one as well.
That being said, the Flyers could do better job of supporting their goalies for sure. With the size of the modern day NHL goaltender and their equipment you need to get them moving side to side to open anything up. The Flyers know their goaltending is hurting yet they allow teams to pass pucks back and forth across the slot and pick their goalies apart. Everything is breaking down.
The Answer
So the easy answer is just grab a high quality NHL goaltender to share the duties with Vladar. Yes, and it’s not that easy. They’re not that many of them out there. And if a team already has one they’re probably are not looking to let him go. To say that Ersson and Kolosov are not capable of consistently stopping NHL caliber shots is not a horrible thing to say about a person. You could say the exact same about the vast majority of human beings on the planet. In fact, almost everybody. It is a rare breed that rises to the top in what may be the most high pressure position in all of sports.
It’s impossible to overstate the importance of quality goaltending. It will make or break a team. For the past two and a half seasons it has been a major issue for the Flyers. Goaltending changes everything. For the Flyers to be competitive they will need another goaltender who is just as good or possibly better than Dan Vladar. They don’t grow on trees and you can’t just go out and buy one on a whim.
For most of his tenure as Flyers head coach John Tortorella was working with this pre-Vladar goaltending line-up. Add in Ivan Fedotov and Cal Petersen just for good measure. Also remove Zegras from the equation. You’ll hear people say that Rick Tocchet like his predecessor John Tortorella are “old school” coaches who just don’t fit into today’s game. Maybe people wouldn’t be saying such things if someone was in the net stopping pucks. Less than two weeks ago people were really excited about how things were going in the right direction for the Philadelphia Flyers. What’s changed? …the puck stops here.
Extra Credit: Can you imagine the confidence and stability the New Jersey Devils and their fans must have felt having a goaltender like Martin Brodeur between the pipes for 21 seasons in a row? Lifetime 2.24 GAA .912 SV%, 125 regular season and 24 post-season shutouts. Four Vesinas, three Stanley Cups, lucky devils.
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