The Philadelphia Flyers took the next step out of their rebuild after making the playoffs with the third best record in the Metropolitan Division, and picked up a first-round series win against the Pittsburgh Penguins. After getting swept by the Carolina Hurricanes, they are now in offseason mode. While the team is relatively young, they still have to do some work to keep the core intact.
While Trevor Zegras is the main player in need of a contract extension (due to being a restricted free agent), there is another player they could begin negotiating with, and that's goaltender Dan Vladar. The Flyers haven't had much luck in the goaltending department, ever, and they took a chance on Vladar, signing him to a two-year, $6.7 million contract. It paid off, as Vladar looks like the goaltender they've been searching for for years.
So what could a contract extension look like?
The Athletic's Kevin Kurz talked to a team source about a potential extension for Vladar, and said it's likely he could get between a three-to-six-year contract extension, with the lesser term yielding a higher annual salary.
"According to a Flyers team source, the club wouldn’t be interested in a seven- or eight-year extension for Vladar. But something between three and six years could make sense for both sides. If the deal ends up on the shorter side of that range, as is likely to be the Flyers’ preference, it would inevitably come with a higher AAV," writes Kurz. "The Flyers have plenty of cap space to operate with after Briere’s work over the last three seasons."
Flyers can't afford to screw up negotiations with Dan Vladar
There's no denying how well Vladar played in his first year in Philadelphia. Through 52 regular season games, Vladar posted a .906 save percentage, a 2.42 goals allowed average, and a 29-14-7 record. In the playoffs, Vladar put up a 2.18 goals allowed average and a .922 save percentage in 10 games.
The Flyers have long been trying to find their starting goaltender in recent years. The likes of Alex Lyon, Anthony Stolarz, Felix Sandstrom, Ivan Fedotov, and so many others never panned out for the team. It is rare to find a quality starting goaltender in free agency, as teams usually draft and develop them. But for the Flyers, they found Vladar last summer, and they got him on a bargain.
Considering how well he played for them this season, it makes sense for the team to want to keep him around for the foreseeable future. But, there is reason to be a bit apprehensive.
This season was the first where Vladar played like an undisputed starter. He spent the majority of his career with the Calgary Flames, and had a 47-30-15 record, a 2.97 goals allowed average, and a .895 save percentage in 90 starts (100 games) over four seasons. Vladar mostly split time with Dustin Wolf for starts.
So, who's to say that the season was a blip on the radar? Flyers fans certainly hope that won't be the case, considering he looked like a sure thing throughout the season. The last thing they would want to do is to give Vladar a lucrative contract and see him turn into Ilya Bryzgalov, who is still being paid by the team. That would be a nightmare scenario.
The thing is, it seems highly unlikely Vladar is going to surpass the annual salary that Igor Shesterkin ($11.5 million) and Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9.5 million) command. Plus, it's uncertain if Vladar would look for a huge annual salary or take a discount to stay with the the team that took a chance on him.
While the Zegras negotiations will be in the spotlight, the team's contract talks with Vladar will definitely be worth keeping an eye on.
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