There are a ton of rumors surrounding the Philadelphia Flyers right now. And while not all of them — or maybe none of them — will come to pass, there is one piece of news that has gone from rumors to reports to pretty much done.
That, of course, is a potential contract extension for goalie Dan Vladar.
Vladar is eligible to sign an extension in Philadelphia on July 1, one year after signing his two-year, $6.7 million contract with the Flyers in free agency.
Vladar had a career year in what was his first real chance to take a starting job in the NHL. He beat out Sam Ersson in training camp and never looked back.
Elliotte Friedman said on Tuesday that a five-year extension for Vladar with the Flyers is “pretty much done,” and general manager Danny Briere told NHL.com’s Adam Kimmelman that the goalie is a “priority” on Wednesday.
“He’s a priority; I’m not going to hide from that,” Briere said at the scouting combine. “It feels like he wants to be in Philly, and we want him there.”
The netminder was undoubtedly the Flyers’ MVP last season. They wouldn’t have won a playoff round or even made the postseason without him. Briere acknowledged that when talking about the netminder.
“He was our MVP, so it’s tough to not like what he’s done,” he said. “We’re definitely interested in extending him. … We feel our prospect goalies need a little bit more time still. So, ideally we would love to extend Dan Vladar.”
Vladar turns 29 in August, so he’d still be in his goaltending prime for most of a mid-to-long term contract. That would buy time for Carson Bjarnason and Yegor Zavragin, two of the prospect goalies Briere mentioned, to get seasoned in the AHL and, for the Russian, get acclimated to the North American game.
Briere ‘not worried’ about signing Drysdale, Zegras
Another important item on this offseason’s to-do list is getting restricted free agents Jamie Drysdale and Trevor Zegras signed to new contracts. We looked at what those contract details may look like based on some projections, and Briere is confident that they’ll get a deal done.
“I’m not worried about that at this point,” he said. “I’m pretty sure we’ll find ways to make it work. We want them in Philly. I strongly believe they want to be in Philly. And usually … when you have two sides that want to be together, you find a way.”
The pair of former Ducks have been key to the Flyers’ turnaround in recent years. Drysdale has turned into a solid second-pair defenseman after looking like a bit of a project, and Zegras had the best season of his career in Philadelphia.
With both players still aged 25 or younger, they look like key parts of the future as well.
Briere also noted that Owen Tippett is recovering well from the internal bleeding issue that kept him out of the second-round series against the Hurricanes. He said that there was a good chance that Tippett could have returned for Game 6 or even Game 5.
