The Flyers Need To Add A Goalie To Stay In The Hunt

As we push into the second half of the NHL season, we’ve seen more chatter about goaltending and the rare in-season goalie trade involving the Oilers and Penguins. While Edmonton is still in the hunt for a new backup option after acquiring Tristan Jarry, they likely aren’t the only ones looking to add depth. One team that should consider a goaltending acquisition is the Philadelphia Flyers.

At first glance, you might ask yourself why the Flyers need help. They are currently seventh-best in the NHL at limiting goals against, thanks mainly to the unbelievable play of Daniel Vladar.

He entered the holiday break with a 13-5-3 record, a .910 SV% and a 2.39 GAA. Vladar’s underlying numbers look even better, as he’s 10th in the league with 14.6 goals saved above expected (per MoneyPuck). These numbers are terrific, but there are concerns about Vladar’s longevity as he tracks to eclipse 30 starts in a season for the first time in his career.

He could surpass that mark before the end of January, starting 21 of 36 so far. The 28-year-old Vladar had been a career backup with the Flames and Bruins before this season.

He wasn’t a particularly good No. 2 option either, posting below-average numbers in almost every season of his career. He signed a somewhat surprising two-year contract with the Flyers this past summer worth $3.35MM per season. No one could have expected him to perform the way he has, which has to make one wonder whether he can carry this play throughout the season, or whether he has simply started the year on an extended heater.

The Flyers haven’t played playoff hockey since the bubble in 2020 and haven’t hosted a home playoff game since Jake Guentzel put up a four-spot against them in Game 6 of the first round in 2018. They are due for playoff action in Philadelphia, and it would be a disaster to let goaltending be their downfall, as it has been so many times before. Their hot start has them second in the Eastern Conference with a .625 points percentage, fueled by some of the league’s best defensive results at 5-on-5.

Outside of the team defense and Vladar, the bright spots are limited. Their offense ranks 24th in the NHL in goals scored. On top of that, Philadelphia doesn’t have a reliable goaltending option outside of Vladar to lean on.

Sure, Samuel Ersson has shown glimpses before. This year, in 14 games, he’s been middling with a 6-4-4 record, an .872 SV%, and a 2.96 GAA. Ersson’s numbers don’t tell the whole story, as he hasn’t played as poorly as those traditional numbers would suggest, but the Flyers need better goaltending than that if they hope to make a playoff push.

Behind Vladar and Ersson is Aleksei Kolosov, who has seen limited NHL action this season, playing just two games. Only one of those appearances was a start, and Kolosov lost it. Still, he played well overall, posting a .929 SV% and a 1.62 GAA.

It’s tough to get overly excited about Kolosov’s play, given his more conservative .900 SV% in the AHL this season. The 2021 third-rounder is still just 23 years old and has room to grow, but for a team with legitimate postseason aspirations, there isn’t a slot for him as a legitimate backup option with a starter as historically untested as Vladar.

All of that to say, the Flyers have to look outside the organization for one of two options. The first option would be to find a tandem goaltender to pair with Vladar and deploy a platoon. The other option would be to find a higher-ceiling traditional backup to play behind Vladar. This is where it could get complicated for Philadelphia, as goalie trades are notoriously tricky in-season. Still, they can be done, as evidenced by the recent Stuart Skinner-for-Jarry swap.

As for available options, there are few. If Philadelphia wants a platoon option, the only choices truly in the rumor mill have been Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues or Skinner. Skinner is a less likely candidate given that the Flyers and Penguins rarely trade with one another, but moving Skinner to Philly could be a win/win for both teams.

There are some outside-the-box options for the Flyers, however. Cam Talbot of the Detroit Red Wings has been phenomenal this year, posting better numbers than partner John Gibson. But Talbot is a UFA this summer, and with Sebastian Cossa waiting in the wings, Detroit could look to move Talbot for the right price. A similar situation is unfolding in Carolina, where Brandon Bussi has effectively taken over for veteran Frederik Andersen. Depending on how generous the Flyers are willing to be in their trade offer, they could potentially pry one of those two away.

That being said, the tightness of the playoff picture in the East still makes it conceivable they’ll fall out of it entirely. They might not want to blow many future assets on a veteran netminder this year. They could look at lower-tier options as well, such as David Rittich of the New York Islanders, Elvis Merzlikins of the Columbus Blue Jackets, or even one of the Seattle Kraken’s backups, Matt Murray or Philipp Grubauer.

Merzlikins and Grubauer are two massive gambles, with term left on their contracts beyond this season, but the Flyers have cap space and could gamble on one of them returning to the form they showed earlier in their careers. While those moves might give the Philadelphia more depth, it’s probably not the best course of action for a team chasing a playoff spot. Murray could be the best fit of the bunch, but with his injury history, it would be hard to count on him regularly.