The Philadelphia Flyers don’t have to do a ton this offseason. Their moves last summer to add Trevor Zegras, Christian Dvorak, and Dan Vladar worked out well, helping the team make the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
The roster is now more or less set, and although changes can always happen, you can look at the players the Flyers have under contract for next season and be happy enough to run it back for the most part.
Adding another top-six center would be nice, as would a defenseman to help out on the power play. But those aren’t necessities for this offseason.
One key decision that Danny Briere and the Flyers do have to make, though, is what they’re doing at the goaltender position, specifically with Samuel Ersson.
What do Flyers have in Sam Ersson?
Ersson is a pending restricted free agent, so the Flyers could simply give him a short-term deal to see if he can figure things out in the coming years. He’s been largely up and down throughout his NHL career, but he did end the season on a high note after the Olympic break.
Still, Ersson has likely shown what he is already. He has a save percentage of .884 in his career, and has never had a single-season SV% over .890 in a full season. In fact, he’s regressed in every single year, going from .899 in his 12-game sample size in the 2022-23 season all the way down to .870 in the 2025-26 season.
The second-half turnaround by Ersson was key in helping the Flyers make their improbable run to the playoffs, but perhaps they wouldn’t have needed such a run if the netminder had played better earlier in the season. His inability to fill in as a starter when Vladar was injured dug a hole that the Flyers barely climbed out of.
While the Flyers’ expectations for next season haven’t changed externally, anything but another playoff berth would be a disappointment. They’ve set the bar, and now they need to take incremental steps forward.
Having Ersson as their backup goalie adds unnecessary risk, especially with the league expanding to an 84-game season.
Flyers need veteran goalie to pair with Dan Vladar
Vladar proved this season that he can handle a large workload, starting a career-high 51 games in the regular season and then 10 more in the playoffs. But one season isn’t enough of a sample size to give him the reins and keep Ersson as a true backup.
Goaltender tandems are becoming more common in today’s NHL, with some teams carrying three goalies to manage the workload of a full season. The Flyers could do that with Ersson as the third, but there are only two nets at practice, and a few great goalie minds (Brian Boucher and Jason Myrtetus, in particular) have talked about how a three-goalie rotation is likely to hurt more than help.
The Flyers need to find another Vladar in this year’s free agency class or via a trade. They need a veteran who has consistently played at least 20 or 30 games in a season and is ready to take a step forward in a larger role, much like Vladar did.
Stuart Skinner, Connor Ingram, and David Rittich are three free-agent goalies who could follow in Vladar’s footsteps with another change of scenery.
Skinner started his season in Edmonton, infamously had his struggles there behind a poor defensive system, then showed signs of life in Pittsburgh after being swapped for Tristan Jarry. He’s not somebody who should break the bank, and top-tier teams looking for a starting goalie shouldn’t be knocking down his door either.
Ingram has gone through it in recent years, both on and off the ice. He posted an impressive .907 SV% in 50 games (48 starts) for a mediocre Coyotes team that finished with 77 points just three seasons ago. He was solid for Edmonton this season, so he may have more suitors, but the Flyers should be one of them.
Rittich is another former Flames goalie, like Vladar, who has played for six teams in the last six seasons. He’s a bit older as he turns 34 in August, so he’d likely be willing to take a shorter-term deal in a tandem or backup role.
Any three of those goalies, or some of the other options out there, have a similar floor as Ersson does, but a much higher ceiling.
The Flyers, unfortunately, don’t have many internal options in goal. Aleksei Kolosov is back on a one-year deal, but he may even be out of his depth in the AHL. Carson Bjarnason and Yegor Zavragin have promise and hopefully are the future in a handful of years. They’re not ready yet.
Vladar is still going to go into training camp and the season as the Flyers’ starter, but a healthy competition with a veteran who could be the 1B certainly couldn’t hurt.
Running it back with Ersson as the backup could turn disastrous if Vladar has to miss time due to injury. If the Swedish netminder looks like Swiss cheese during those games as he did in January, the Flyers’ playoff hopes will once again plummet.
And this is a team that should be looking to make the playoffs. The Metropolitan Division is in flux, and the Flyers are right in the mix as the rebuild continues.
Briere has a few things on his to-do list this summer, and adding a goaltender to help take some of the load from Vladar should be a top priority.
