The Philadelphia Flyers are heading in the right direction, and last season was evident of that. After going through a pretty lengthy rebuild, the Flyers clinched third place in the Metropolitan Division last season, and even picked up a first-round series win over the rival Pittsburgh Penguins. Their success was due to their young players stepping up, and their big acquisitions panning out. Forward Trevor Zegras was one, and goalie Dan Vladar was the other.
Flyers fans knew how long it took to find a steady starter at goaltender. The Flyers took a gamble on Vladar, and watched him not only succeed, but saw him be one of the top goalies in the league. Thus, they rewarded him with a five-year contract extension.
This offseason showed that they are in paradise of sorts, as they don't have to have yet another search for a starting goaltender and hoping they pan out. Now, they are going to see teams panic to try and land Connor Hellebuyck from the Winnipeg Jets.
Connor Hellebuyck's trade request has playoff contenders panicking
Hellebuyck solidified his status as one of the best goalies in the league, as evidenced by his three Vezina Trophy victories. Last season was a down year for Hellebuyck, but that is overshadowed a bit after he helped Team USA win the gold medal in men's ice hockey in the Winter Olympics.
Much like fellow Olympic teammates Dylan Larkin and Brady Tkachuk, Hellebuyck requested a trade from the team. Unlike the other two, Hellebuyck went public with his request last week, citing the start of training camp approaching.
Now, we are going to see a variety of reports and rumors about where Hellebuyck could be traded. The belief is that Hellebuyck has a much more expansive trade destination wishlist, as opposed to Larkin's three team wishlist and Tkachuk's four.
It is entirely likely that there are going to be plenty of playoff teams from last season looking to add Hellebuyck. The Buffalo Sabres have long been linked to Hellebuyck, and goaltending was a reason why the team didn't make it past the second round. Then there are the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes. They let Frederik Andersen walk to the Edmonton Oilers in free agency, but still have Brandon Bussi under contract. As well as Bussi played in the playoffs, he's not at the level of Hellebuyck. Other potential teams linked to Hellebuyck include the Utah Mammoth, New Jersey Devils, and San Jose Sharks.
The good thing for the Flyers is that they don't have to worry about goaltending.
Flyers don't need to enter a Connor Hellebuyck-style sweepstakes for goaltending
As mentioned earlier, Vladar has been everything the Flyers could have hoped for. He put up good numbers when given the opportunity and made some incredible saves throughout the season. In 52 games (51 starts), Vladar recorded 29-14-7 record, a 2.42 goals allowed average, and a .906 save percentage in the regular season. In the playoffs, Vladar led all goalies with a .922 save percentage.
This offseason, general manager Danny Briere also ensured they had some insurance behind Vladar, considering Samuel Ersson failed to pan out. They made a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs to acquire goalie Joseph Woll to back up Vladar. Now, the Flyers have a capable goaltending duo. Vladar has the chance to build off of a great season, while Woll has shown during his time in Toronto that he is more than capable of starting games when called upon.
Sure, any team adding Hellebuyck will see their chances of winning a Stanley Cup increase. But for the Flyers, they finally saw a weakness become a strength, and now don't have to worry about it for the foreseeable future. Now, they can just focus on adding a top center down the line.
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