The Flyers saw both Sam Ersson and Dan Vladar used on Wednesday night and Thursday night, respectively. Ersson, who has been having an arduous season and has numbers that maybe only Edmonton’s Tristan Jarry would be envious of, wasn’t tested often but made the key stops at the key times in a 4-1 Flyers win over Washington. On Thursday, Vladar — essentially Philadelphia’s “A” starter or number one — came up huge in the shootout against Mats Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov as Philadelphia left with two points. But for most of the game, Vladar didn’t look like classic Vladar. Certainly not the guy who was stellar in a victory over Boston recently. Appearing to be fighting the puck, and sometimes having the posts (and crossbar) bailing him out, Vladar didn’t seem to have a great evening. He looked a bit spent.
Vladar is definitely in unchartered waters this season. After signing the two-year deal, many believed the former Flame was a steadying presence as a backup goaltender. Vladar came in with other ideas. By the early part of the season it was quite clear he was separating himself from Ersson in terms of quality starts and simply stopping the puck nine times out of 10 or more. And for most of the 2025-26 season, Vladar has been consistent. However, his next game, whether Saturday night against Columbus or next week against Anaheim, will be his forty-first of the year. With 17 games to go, Vladar is probably going to see the majority of those starts. But should he?
To put his season into perspective, should Vladar play 10 of the remaining 17 games, he will hit the 50 games played mark. In 2024-25, he played 30 games for the Flames. In 2023-24, he played 20. So his usage this year will match his previous two seasons combined. That’s a lot of work. And it might be just too much right now for Vladar to handle.
Why it could work?
Nobody is suggesting that Ersson is usurping Vladar in terms of quality starts. And few would believe, based on his play since October, that Ersson will be the one pulling the Flyers into the playoffs by himself. However, if Vladar is looking tired, and the workload is becoming too much, it might be time to simply split the games up as best as possible. Alternating starts at the point would enable both Ersson and Vladar to know (barring injury to either or both of course) when they’re playing and when their next start is going to be. It might not seem like Vladar only playing eight games the rest of the way versus 10 or 11 would make a huge amount of difference. Yet, if a goalie looks to be almost as frayed as Vladar appears to have been the last few weeks, it could give him a bit of a reprieve knowing he’s not going to be run into the ground for 11 or 12 games down the stretch.
Would either goalie like it? Probably not, especially in Vladar’s case. But he looks to be fighting the puck a lot more recently than he has all season. Not to mention the physical drain, but the mental aspect is also draining, knowing you are one-third to half of the reason the Flyers are still alive and not heading for a top-5 or top-3 lottery pick. The season is a grind, and maybe the grind is getting to Vladar a lot more now than it did two months ago. If both Ersson and Vladar could just focus on the game in front of them, and not how many either will get down the stretch, it could help them and Philadelphia possibly get over the line.
Of course, if either Ersson or Vladar get lit up in a game or two, that whole notion goes out the window as most likely the other will be coming in as a reliever. But outside of that, splitting things almost down the middle could be the best short-term solution for both goalies.
Team isn’t giving up a lot
Perhaps another reason that the alternating starts idea shouldn’t be tossed out completely is that the Flyers aren’t really giving up a hell of a lot of shots. Or great opportunities. Granted, they stunk the joint out against the Rangers not even a week ago. But outside of that game, the Flyers really haven’t been hemmed in their own end a lot. They’ve been better at breaking plays up, using their sticks and keeping high-percentage chances at a minimum. In the last 10 games played they’ve allowed 30 or more shots just once when Toronto had 31 against them. Since then, Philadelphia have allowed 23 shots in four of the ensuing five contests. That’s not a huge amount of rubber tossed at a goalie. Over the last 10 it’s an average of 25.7 shots a game, and that total has declined in the last five.
If both Ersson and Vladar know they’re splitting the rest of the schedule, and also know the team in front of them is doing a lot of the grunt work in limiting shots through sticks, blocks or not playing a lot in their own end, it should ease the goaltenders’ burden a bit. Simply put, Tocchet has the team not exactly playing run-and-gun, firewagon hockey. The chances traded usually might be in the extra session but rarely during the first 60 minutes. So if Philadelphia can keep that shots against total in the low twenties, it will without question help both Vladar and Ersson down the stretch.
Ersson has experience being used a lot
As mentioned earlier, Vladar has played this late in the season before. Just not with this many games under his belt. Sam Ersson, for all his flaws, has had the experience of being used time and time again late in a season. Without going into detail, Ersson was thrown to the lions somewhat in January 2024 due to circumstances out of his control. The Flyers had no alternative, so then head coach John Tortorella ran Ersson until he proverbially collapsed. Tortorella knew what he was doing. But considering his goaltending alternatives, it was Ersson or possibly going with six skaters all game. It was that bad.
In 2025-26, Ersson has three starts since the beginning of February. He was removed against the Rangers on Monday, so he has played just over 100 minutes since Feb. 1. Not a lot. After Vladar was injured in January against Buffalo, Tocchet relied on Ersson to hold the fort. But the fort collapsed quickly. In nine games in January, Philadelphia was 2-6-1 with Ersson in net. His save percentage was .835 for the month. Again, not great. But Ersson is capable at times of having quality starts. And if he was to have two or three of those the rest of the way, it could help Philadelphia at least stay alive a while longer.
It’s not that Ersson should be mentally or physically spent. He should have a lot left in the tank for the last four weeks and change. And a lot to prove to himself, if not trying to remain in Philadelphia next year (the Flyers own his rights as a restricted free agent) then perhaps showcasing himself to another team for 2026-27. Maybe it’s time to see if he’s capable of not carrying the load, but maybe carrying half of it. Tocchet and Briere are both aware that Vladar is starting to wane a bit. Giving him some days off and extra maintenance days could be a bandage. Knowing he wasn’t on the hook for two-thirds of the remaining season might be just enough for Vladar to reset, for Ersson to surprise a lot of people, and for the Flyers to have confidence, real confidence, in either goalie.
Would it work?
Nobody has a crystal ball. The Flyers could lose the last 17 games the same way they could possibly find themselves in playoff contention (or in the hunt) with a week to go. They’ve been up. They’ve been down. Having a goalie schedule where every other game it’s the other goalie isn’t a novel idea. You only need to see Boston’s Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark to know it’s possible provided both are capable of it. It rarely makes either goalie happy for a full year. But we’re not talking about a full season. Asking Vladar and Ersson to split the work for roughly 20 per cent of the season isn’t a huge ask. It could implode spectacularly. It could also just be the answer to helping Vladar while giving Ersson yet another chance. And somehow keeping Philadelphia in the hunt.
All stats courtesy of Statmuse and ESPN.com
