Metropolitan Notes: Vladar, Barkey, Penguins, Ilyin
With teams being warned about the potential for tampering, not as many contracts were announced in the opening minutes of free agency on Tuesday. One exception was new Flyers goaltender Daniel Vladar. In an interview with iSport’s Pavel Barta, the 27-year-old indicated that his two-year, $6.7MM agreement with Philadelphia was in place within three minutes of the market opening up. Vladar was seeking an opportunity to be a starting goalie and he should get a chance to battle for that role with the Flyers who had incumbents Samuel Ersson, Ivan Fedotov, and Aleksei Kolosov all struggle considerably last season. While Vladar’s 2.80 GAA and .898 SV% last season in 30 games with Calgary aren’t elite numbers, they’re still an upgrade on what Philadelphia received in 2024-25.
More from the Metropolitan:
- Still with the Flyers, prospect Denver Barkey has nearly fully recovered from the ankle injury that hindered him in the playoffs, relays PHLY Sports’ Charlie O’Connor (Twitter link). The 20-year-old was a third-round pick two years ago and was a top producer with OHL London. Last season, Barkey had 82 points in 50 games with the Knights while adding 20 points in 10 playoff contests. Now pro-eligible, Barkey will likely start next season at AHL Lehigh Valley but a good start there could have him in the mix for a recall fairly quickly given his track record of production.
- Winger Matej Blumel told Hokej.cz’s Dominik Dubovchi that the Penguins were the other finalist to sign him in free agency earlier this week. The 25-year-old was the top goal-getter in the AHL last season, notching 39 in 67 games with AHL Texas but that only earned him seven games with Dallas where he scored once. Blumel was eligible for Group Six unrestricted free agency and ultimately signed a one-year, one-way contract worth $875K with Boston.
- Still with the Penguins, prospect Mikhail Ilyin will stay in the KHL for next season, assistant GM Jason Spezza told reporters including Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link). However, the hope is that the winger will come to North America for the 2026-27 campaign. Ilyin, a fifth-round pick back in 2023, had 30 points in 64 games with Severstal Cherepovets last season, finishing third on the team in scoring.
Penguins Sign Mikhail Ilyin To Entry-Level Contract
The Penguins have reached an agreement with one of their prospects, announcing on Saturday that they signed Mikhail Ilyin to a three-year, entry-level contract. PuckPedia reports that the agreement will carry a cap hit of $851,667.
The 20-year-old winger was a fifth-round pick by Pittsburgh in 2023, being selected 142nd overall. At the time, he had primarily played at Russia’s MHL level but in 2023-24, that changed as he put up 12 goals and 17 assists in 64 games with KHL Severstal Cherepovets with his only MHL playing time coming in the playoffs.
This year, it was more of the same. Ilyin played in 65 games with Severstal and while his goal total dipped to seven, he improved in the assist department as he collected 23 of those. He played just twice in the MHL, notching four helpers.
It would be surprising if Ilyin was in the plans to play regularly in Pittsburgh in 2025-26. It’s not often that Russian players play regularly in the AHL either at this stage of their career so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Ilyin loaned back to Cherepovets for next season.