Dan Vladar signed a two-year, $6.7 million contract with the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday. It has an average annual value of $3.35 million.
The 27-year-old goalie was 12-11-6 with a 2.80 goals-against average, .898 save percentage and two shutouts in 30 games (29 starts) for the Calgary Flames last season.
"Dan Vladar told us very early on that he saw an opportunity," Flyers general manager Daniel Briere said. "He wanted to come in and compete in Philadelphia, so we jumped on it. For us, ideally, we're looking for a one-year deal, but we realized that to get some help, we needed to step it up a little bit, but when he told us that he wanted to come, we jumped on it."
Selected by the Boston Bruins in the third round (No. 75) of the 2015 NHL Draft, Vladar is 49-34-16 with a 3.00 GAA, .895 save percentage and four shutouts in 105 regular-season games (95 starts) for the Bruins and Flames and has appeared in two Stanley Cup Playoff games. He could compete for playing time with incumbent starter Samuel Ersson.
"It looks that way," Briere said. "The way they've played the last couple years, it's probably Ersson/Vladar, but how many teams go with only two goalies? Not too many of them. You need three, four goalies. My message to them is, it doesn't matter where you slot in right now. Come in, be ready, and when it's your turn, you've got to perform. I hope we can create that environment that every single night they're battling for their spot. We're going to need at least three goalies, maybe more. We know that, and I think Vladar helps us put us in a better position."
The Flyers also signed forward Christian Dvorak to one-year, $5.4 million contract on Tuesday. The 29-year-old had 33 points (12 goals, 21 assists) in 82 games for the Montreal Canadiens last season and two goals in five Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Trevor Zegras was acquired by Philadelphia in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks on June 23, for Ryan Poehling, a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and a fourth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.
"I'm excited about him," Briere said of Dvorak. "I think one of the enticing parts for him is the opportunities that he's going to have. It's no secret that we're pretty thin in the in the middle. (Sean) Couturier and (Noah) Cates really are the only two, for sure. We hope that Zegras can play center as well, but there's opportunities there for him, probably more than he would have seen somewhere else. I feel that that was probably very enticing for him, So to get a big body like that, that can play a 200-foot game, win face-offs for us. I think he makes us a better team, having him down the middle."
Selected by the Arizona Coyotes in the second round (No. 58) of the 2014 NHL Draft, Dvorak has 249 points (105 goals, 144 assists) in 534 regular-season games for the Coyotes and Canadiens and five points (four goals, one assist) in 14 playoff games.
NHL.com deputy managing editor Adam Kimelman contributed to this report
