The Philadelphia Flyers were dealt a significant blow on Tuesday night. Maybe the worst news they could possibly get. Goaltender Dan Vladar suffered an injury and it’s unknown just how long he might be out for.
During what seemed like an everyday collision between opposing player and Flyers goalie, Vladar suffered some sort of potential upper-body injury and had to leave the game. He did not return, of course, and now the Flyers are facing a reality where they could be without last year’s team MVP for the start of the season.
Head coach Rick Tocchet was unable to provide any clear update on Vladar’s injury after Tuesday night’s 5-1 loss to the Bruins, only mentioning that the goalie is still being evaluated. We might get word of a specific injury and potential recovery timeline later this week, but for the time being, we might have to start thinking about potential replacements.
So, how can the Flyers find these replacements and who are some potential targets?
It has to be said before anything is mentioned — there is no replacing Vladar directly. He is just so good and so dependable to be at least an average NHL goalie and that is basically impossible to find on short notice. The Flyers also don’t want to muddy the waters by having a big acquisition in an attempt to keep up the qualify of their crease, just to make it awkward when Vladar inevitably returns to full health in just a couple weeks.
What are the options the Flyers have to fill out their tandem?
Keeping the status quo and depending on Aleksei Kolosov
The easiest and most simple answer might just be the right one for the time being. It’s not like the Flyers don’t physically have a third-string goalie to slot into the mix and to be the backup to Joseph Woll. Aleksei Kolosov does exist and has somewhat rejuvenated some of his stock within the organization the past 12 months.
He has gone from a goalie prospect who does not want to spend time in the AHL and thinks that he’s entitled time in the NHL, to a player who was getting more and more comfortable with the Phantoms last season. The 24-year-old had a better campaign than the previous one, but did end up earning a not-so-good .895 save percentage through 38 games.
Kolosov is not an outstanding goalie in the NHL, or even really a good one. He had a miserable .830 save percentage in four appearances — one of which was the infamous time he allowed three goals on three shots against the Rangers and has yet to actually play in the NHL since then. But, maybe now is the time to really prove it and be at least an option the Flyers are somewhat comfortable with.
Instead of doing any transaction to bring in external talent, maybe general manager Danny Briere is comfortable going with Kolosov and praying that it all works out. This would be only if Vladar’s absence is a maximum of two weeks. We can’t imagine a Woll-Kolosov tandem would last much longer than that.
Exploring the waiver wire at the perfect time
While there is no ideal time for one of the team’s most important players to suffer a injury, the fact that it was in the preseason could be a blessing in disguise.
Every team around the NHL are trying to cut down their roster size so that they can eventually start the season with some semblance of a final group of players. During this process, several dozens of players will be thrown on the waiver wire to send them down to the AHL. While most of them are completely nothing players who would make zero sense to claim and be forced to have on your 23-man roster, there are some gems occasionally and if you need a goaltender, this is the scenario to be in.
While a three-goalie rotation has become the latest fad in the NHL, a number of teams will be sending their third-stringer down through the waiver wire hoping to not get claimed. Unfortunately, the Flyers would be in need of an adequate netminder if Vladar is out for any number of days and this could be a way to get it.
Taking a brief look at who is likely to be sent down through waivers this week, there are some interesting goalies that the Flyers could see as a better option than taking the risk with Aleksei Kolosov.
Pheonix Copley has had stints in the NHL before. While his best days were all the way back in the 2022-23 season where he put up a .903 save percentage in 37 games for the Los Angeles Kings (and since then has been miserable in the NHL), he could still be seen as someone with more experience than Kolosov and could be a solid bet.
If the Sabres don’t want to go with three goalies, Colten Ellis could be available and would easily be the best (but least realistic) option here for a waiver-wire pickup. The 25-year-old just had 16 appearances for the Buffalo Sabres and earned a .903 save percentage. Pretty solid and that’s why Buffalo might just want to keep him around.
Kaapo Kahkonen is another name that has had experience in the big leagues before but has basically just shown to be a solid AHL goalie and might get another cup of coffee here or there. A perfectly fine option but still a little hesitant if he’s a better option than Kolosov.
One last name is David Rittich and it would be simply to get some as short-term as possible. The 34-year-old might not have that much good goaltending left in him but has shown to be at least just slightly below-average in the NHL. It wouldn’t be disastrous.
It’s not a perfect solution, but hitting up the waiver wire when there will be so much activity — again, kind of good timing to need a goalie — could bring in someone with actual NHL experience and somewhat stabilize the tandem temporarily. Or, it could be a disaster and then you just send that guy down.
Make a minor trade
If Vladar is out for more than a few weeks, even if it’s just for a month, we could see general manager Danny Briere be completely fine parting with a late-round draft pick just to have some solid goaltending to start the season.
Every single game will matter this season for the Flyers if they want to make the playoffs and if the team doesn’t think Kolosov can be anything like an average goalie, then they might look externally and a tier above the types of goalies found on the waiver wire.
We have no idea who could be out there. Would Montreal possibly trade Sam Montembeault for almost nothing, because of how poor a season he had last year? It’s not completely out of the blue since they do have Jacob Fowler and Jakub Dobes also. We’re just spitballing here.
There could be deals done if Vladar were to miss a significant chunk of time. Even if it is just three or four weeks, if the Flyers think Kolosov is not ready for that opportunity and they don’t like what they see on the waiver wire, then they might just have to pull an early-season trade out of necessity. A move so that they don’t drop a handful of points and spend the rest of the season trying to play catch-up.
After all of that, we just hope Vladar will be perfectly fine when the Flyers start their season on September 30 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
