Dan Vladar set to return from injury

The Philadelphia Flyers are in Columbus tonight to play the Blue Jackets, and head coach Rick Tocchet delivered some good news at morning skate: goaltender Dan Vladar is back in action and will get the start. No surprise here, as Tocchet said earlier this week, Vladar was getting close to a return.

Vladar hasn't suited up for a game since January 14 against the Buffalo Sabres. And in that game, he allowed two goals on six shots. He seemed to be shaken up late in the first period and was pulled during the first intermission and replaced by Sam Ersson. The Flyers lost that game 5-2 as part of their losing streak.

The addition of Vladar to the Flyers' lineup has been a revelation. While some criticized GM Danny Briere's somewhat quiet offseason (in addition to Vladar, the only other notable moves were signing Christian Dvorak and trading for Trevor Zegras), Vladar has been a smashing success in Philadelphia. In 28 starts this season, Vladar has a .905 save percentage and a 2.46 goals-against-average. According to Money Puck, his 8.5 Goals Saved Above expected (GSAx) ranks 17th in the league.

The Flyers have long searched for some sort of stability in net. Last year, Philadelphia ran a three-goalie rotation of Ersson, Aleksei Kolosov, and Ivan Fedotov, which yielded woeful results. With Vladar, the Flyers have found the long-sought-after consistency.

Vladar's return comes at an ideal time, too, as the Flyers have fallen out of the playoff picture. While Ersson held the fort down, they've badly missed their starting netminder. It also means Vladar should be good to go for the Olympics as a part of Team Czechia, and he's now got a few NHL games to play himself back into the conversation to start for his national team in Milan.