One day last offseason, Dan Vladar met with his goalie coach Radek Jiratko back home in Czechia.

They weren’t on the ice. But they had a tone-setting conversation.

“He had an honest talk with me, we just sat down, had a couple of drinks and he just told me what he felt like was going to help me,” Vladar said a week ago. “I was at that age where I wasn’t really sure what type of goalie I am. Especially with a new opportunity to come here, I just wanted to take advantage of it and get ready as much as I could.”

It has all led to a career year in Vladar’s first season with the Flyers. The 28-year-old already has 17 wins to go along with a 2.47 goals-against average and .905 save percentage. He’s now representing Team Czechia at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.

He wanted to find out about himself.

“Whether I was a good backup or I could be a starter,” Vladar said. “I was turning that age where I was like, ‘Am I going to be able to handle 30-plus games or am I not?’ It was a good, honest talk.”

Vladar made sure to thank Jiratko, who works for Rytiri Kladno, a team in their country’s top pro league.

“He really helped me a lot,” Vladar said, “and I already got him a nice watch, so he’s good now.”

The Flyers have loved Vladar’s leadership. He’s a vocal goaltender, speaking up in the locker room and on the ice.

“He doesn’t have a letter on his jersey, but he could,” head coach Rick Tocchet said a little over a week ago. “He does have one, for me, in my head. What I like about what he did this summer, he had a weakness in his game he wanted to work on, hired somebody, came into camp in great shape. Look at the year he’s having, so good for him. That’s being a leader.”

After signing with the Flyers on a two-year, $6.7 million contract, Vladar has surrendered two or fewer goals in 20 of his 32 starts.

Prior to this season, he had never been a No. 1. He spent the previous four seasons as the Flames’ backup. He highlighted the benefit of not only working with Flyers goaltending coach Kim Dillabaugh, but also listening to his teammates.

“If they shoot on me, they score on me, I just try to ask them, ‘Was there a lot of room there? What did you see?'” Vladar said. “I think it’s just little things like that, trying to help each other in that way.”

When Vladar signed last summer, general manager Danny Briere said the Flyers were ideally looking for a one-year deal. You can bet they’re now happy that they’ve got him for at least two seasons.

“I think we have a pretty young group and a bunch of really good players that they are just about to turn their best age,” Vladar said. “I think the future is here, for sure.”