The Philadelphia Flyers went further in the 2025-26 Stanley Cup Playoffs than many expected. But since their second-round loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, the Flyers have been filling in some missing pieces and building towards a better team. The Leo Carlson offer sheet may have been the talking point of the Flyers' off-season, but the team has made some good additions, including one to take some weight off their goaltending situation. That move is the addition of Josef Woll.
Dan Vladar was a star last season
The Flyers saw big success in net last season, mainly due to the huge step forward that goaltender Dan Vladar took in the starter role. The 2025-26 season was the first of Vladar's career as a starter, and the first where he played more than 30 games. In his 52 regular-season games for the Flyers, Vladar posted 29 wins, ranking him 10th among NHL goaltenders. His 2.42 goals-against average ranked third among goaltenders who played more than half the season, and the best he's had in his career. His .906 save percentage ranked him ninth.
These numbers in the regular season earned him a ranking on the NHL Network's goaltenders list in the off-season. He also picked up his first career spots in award voting, including fifth in Vezina Trophy voting and 18th in Hart Trophy voting. In the playoffs, he led the league in save percentage with 0.922. All of this earned him a new contract with the Flyers, which will kick in for the 2027-28 season
Seeing as this was Vladar's first real breakout season, the Flyers can't enter the 2026-27 season under the idea that he can and will replicate those exact numbers. To guard against that, the Flyers made the move to bring in Josef Woll in the off-season.
Joseph Woll can remove some of Dan Vladar's pressure
Vladar shared the crease last season with Samuel Ersson, who got the job done, but wasn't really able to provide enough support in the backup role. To boost their goaltending, the Flyers traded for Josef Woll, sending Ersson in exchange. Woll has been on the bad end of the Leafs' constant goaltending rotation over the last few seasons, but he does have the skills to back up Vladar and step up if things go wrong.
Last season was a particularly bad year for Woll, but going back to the 2024-25 season shows how strong Woll can be. In 42 games with the Leafs, Woll had a 2.73 goals-against average and a 0.909 save percentage. If he can get his confidence back, Woll and Vladar can be the perfect tandem.
Vladar will likely start the majority of the games, but not having to rely on him exclusively to get the Flyers back into the playoffs will be helpful for roster and workload management. If one or the other is in a slump, the Flyers won't have to worry about who's in goal. Instead, they can focus on building towards their first finals appearance since losing to Chicago in 2009-10.
If the Hurricanes showed anything in their cup run, it's that you don't need to have the biggest names in goaltending in the net to take home the league's top prize.
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