Goaltending Questions Looming Over Flyers in Second Half

It wasn’t hard to identify why the Philadelphia Flyers became one of the NHL's most pleasant surprises in the first half of 2025-26. The addition of Dan Vladar emphatically solidified what was the league’s worst goaltending situation last season.

However, an early-season strength doesn’t necessarily create a sustainable formula for a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Flyers suddenly face goaltending questions with Vladar shouldering the heaviest workload of his career and a struggling Sam Ersson failing to lock down the backup position. 

Danny Briere and the Flyers inked Vladar to a two-year contract during the offseason with the expectation that the 28-year-old netminder would work in tandem with Ersson. Vladar has erased any notion of a simple stopgap solution. He stormed out of the gates and stole the starting crease from the incumbent Ersson almost immediately.

Vladar surpassed the midway point of the regular season with a .907 save percentage and 2.42 goals against average in 27 starts. 

Both rates are solidly better than his averages from the previous four seasons he spent with Calgary Flames, where Vladar’s yearly workload ranged from 20-30 starts.

Vladar has handled offseason questions about his tendency to allow dangerous rebound opportunities. He’s instead used his athleticism and 6-foot-5 frame to patrol the crease while landing smoothly in a locker room beginning to believe in the idea of playoff contention. 

Rick Tocchet has weighed Vladar’s ability to handle starting three consecutive games. He's even mentioned the possibility of using Philadelphia’s top goalie four games in a row.

Vladar’s participation in the 2026 Winter Olympics with Team Czechia will also weigh into Tocchet’s evaluation of his upcoming workload. If Vladar earns the crease over countrymen Lukas Dostal (Anaheim Ducks) and Karel Vejmelka (Utah Mammoth) in the intensity of international best-on-best hockey, will it impact his ability to stay fresh for the final two months of the NHL season after the Olympic break?

The Flyers will support an opportunity for their player to represent his country in the pinnancle of international competition. However, the circumstances don’t create an ideal scenario for Tocchet to manage the heaviest workload of his top goaltender’s career.

Nikita Kucherov led a dynamic scoring attack for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 7-2 blowout at Xfinity Mobile Arena on January 10. Ersson allowed two goals on the first three shots he faced. He struggled to stop quality scoring chances against a Stanley Cup offense.

When it rains on Sam Ersson, it pours. He burned out quickly down the stretch in 2023-24 with no help from a competitive backup goalie. He noticeably struggled for stretches of the 2024-25 season, especially in December immediately after returning from a groin issue.

The 26-year-old Swede ranks 84th of 89 NHL goalies with -9.6 goals saved above expected this season. He’s posted an .858 save percentage and a 3.33 goals against average that don't stack up well with the .897 and 2.85 respective league averages.

Tocchet spoke confidently in his backup’s ability to carry himself with pride despite the slump.

While Ersson’s first half struggles don’t inspire the most confidence for a franchise that faces seemingly endless goaltending questions, he provides a better alternative than the Flyers had last season.

Backups Aleksei Kolosov and Ivan Fedotov provided no serviceable respite in games with Ersson on the bench in 2024-25. This season, Ersson himself is a more capable backup given his NHL track record. His previous flashes of success will encourage the Flyers to believe in the likelihood of improvement during the second half of the season.

The initial intention after the Vladar signing was to recreate the tandem situation of Ersson’s best NHL stretch alongside Carter Hart in the first half of 2023-24. If Vladar’s hot streak fades with a heavy workload, it might force Ersson back into the original tandem role with the Flyers in playoff contention.

Briere pushed back against the idea that the Flyers will add before the NHL Trade Deadline on March 6. 

Acquiring a journeyman backup goalie like Cam Talbot (Detroit Red Wings) to replace Ersson and relieve Vladar wouldn’t align with Briere’s intended vision for the 2025-26 season.

However, if the cost is relatively low while the Flyers have a glaring need when the calendar flips to March, it’s not out of the question that the front office would pull the trigger.

Briere already showed the openness to spend draft capital for short-term veteran Erik Johnson under desperate circumstances in 2024. Although the Flyers don’t expect to contend for the Stanley Cup this spring, they value the intensity of meaningful hockey in their internal player development strategies. They collapsed two years ago and cost themselves a valuable playoff berth because they didn't get competent play between the pipes.

The Flyers could promote Aleksei Kolosov after his improvement throughout the first half of 2025-26 with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. However, they’d have to pivot away from the solid AHL progress of a prospect who didn’t develop efficiently last season. Briere would weigh the risk in development versus a reward at the NHL level that isn't likely to impact the course of the season anyway.

Briere also has his eye on Carson Bjarnason of the Phantoms and KHL netminder Egor Zavragin developing in the prospect pipeline. Neither young goaltender is a realistic solution for this season.

None of the potential short-term solutions pose an obvious solution to Vladar’s heavy workload or Ersson’s slump. The Flyers face the familiar situation of internal improvement as their best option. Will their two goalies respond well enough to keep them in the Eastern Conference playoff race?