The Philadelphia Flyers have had some great goaltenders in their franchise history, such as Bernie Parent and Ron Hextall. But in recent years, the Flyers had notably been in search of their starting goaltender for the foreseeable future. While the team seems to have finally ended the search by watching Dan Vladar shine in the 2025-26 season, they had a lengthy stretch of using multiple goalies to try and find their long-term option.
What made their search even more difficult was seeing their decisions backfire. One of their most notable ones was the team moving on from Sergei Bobrovsky after just two seasons. After a playoff run to forget in 2012, the Flyers traded Bobrovsky to the Columbus Blue Jackets. That move did not pan out the way the Flyers had anticipated, as they went through a laundry list of different goalies since. Meanwhile Bobrovsky solidified himself as one of the best goalies in the game, even late in his career, highlighted by back-to-back Stanley Cup championship wins with the Florida Panthers.
It stings even more for the Flyers, as The Athletic unveiled their tiers for current players' chances at making the Hall of Fame. Bobrovsky is in the "they could retire today and make it" tier, alongside the likes of Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, and Andrei Vasilevskiy.
How Sergei Bobrovsky tenure in Philadelphia ended as early as it did
Bobrovsky, the undrafted free agent, made his debut during the 2010-11 season, where he earned 52 starts in 54 games. During that season, Bobrovsky posted a .915 save percentage, a 2.59 goals allowed average, and a 28-13-8 record. During their trip to the playoffs that season, Bobrovsky put up a 3.23 goals allowed average and a .877 save percentage. Then-Flyers coach Peter Laviolette had grown frustrated with Bobrovsky's struggles in that playoff run, that he benched him in favor of Brian Boucher.
Those playoff numbers had the Flyers second-guessing Bobrovsky's abilities to be a long-term starting goaltender. So, they signed Ilya Bryzgalov to a nine-year, $51 million contract to be their new starter. The following season, Bobrovsky posted a 14-10-2 record, a .899 save percentage, and a 3.02 goals allowed average. Bobrovsky only played in one playoff game in the Flyers' playoff run that year, where he surrendered five goals on 18 shots faced.
After the 2012 playoffs, the Flyers traded Bobrovsky to the Blue Jackets in exchange for a 2012 second-round pick, a 2012 fourth-round pick, and a 2013 fourth-round pick from the Phoenix Coyotes. This will go down as a trade that haunted the Flyers for a long-time.
Sergei Bobrovsky immediately makes the Flyers pay after trade
Much to Flyers fans' dismay, they watched from afar as Bobrovsky developed into not only a long-term goaltending option for Columbus, but also as one of the top goalies in the game. In the 2012-13 season, Bobrovsky posted a 21-11-6 record, a 2.00 goals allowed average, and a .932 save percentage in 38 games (37 starts). With these numbers, Bobrovsky won the Vezina Trophy. Talk about immediate salt in the wound for the Flyers.
Meanwhile, Bryzgalov failed to live up to his contract. In the 2012-13 season, Bryzgalov put up a 19-17-3 record, a .900 save percentage, and a 2.79 goals allowed average. This would be Bryzgalov's final season with the Flyers, as they intended to buy out his contract. In fact, this season is the last one the Flyers are on the books for.
Then-Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren received plenty of flak from fans over the lackluster return for a goalie that turned into one of the best in hockey. Owner Ed Snider came out in defense of Holmgren in 2014, claiming that Bobrovsky told them he would not sign a new contract with the Flyers, which gave them reason to trade him in 2012. Additionally, Snider admitted that the nine-year contract given to Bryzgalov was a mistake.
“Not only did we make a mistake on the long-term contract (to Bryzgalov), but Bobrovksy’s a young guy and he told Paul, ‘As soon as my contract’s out, I’m out of here,’” Snider said, h/t NBC Sports.
“He wasn’t going to re-sign with us. He was going to go back to Russia [or] he was going to go with another team, but he wasn’t going to be a second-string goalie for the rest of his life. So that was also a problem, and Paul made the best of the situation.
No matter the justification, the trade still looks bad. Bobrovsky won another Vezina Trophy during the 2016-17 season after putting up a .931 save percentage and a 2.06 goals allowed average, both of which led all goalies, in 63 starts. While there were some unideal seasons with the Panthers late in his career, he made up for it during the team's two Stanley Cup title victories in 2024 and 2025, where he recorded a .910 save percentage and a 2.26 goals allowed average.
Now, Bobrovsky is looking to help solve the Toronto Maple Leafs' goaltending woes and help turn them back into playoff contenders.
The Flyers had to run through a litany of other goalies after dealing away Bobrovsky, such as Bryzgalov, Steve Mason, Brian Elliott, Carter Hart, and Samuel Ersson, none of whom panned out. They seemingly have their surefire goalie locked in in Vladar. However, one has to imagine how things would have panned out for the Flyers had they had more patience with Bobrovsky. Who knows, maybe they'd have their third Stanley Cup title by now.
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