Vladar, who had an .898 save percentage in 30 games with the Calgary Flames last season, will compete for playing time with Samuel Ersson, who had an .883 save percentage in 47 games.

The Flyers traded goalie Ivan Fedotov to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday for a sixth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

“I expect the goaltending to be better, no doubt about it,” Briere said. “I think Vladar will come in and probably be a little bit more support for Sam. But we do believe in Sam still; he’s had some flashes. I think with Sam, having a guy there to protect him and not expecting him to play three games a week should probably help Sam in the long run.”

One player who won’t be part of the goalie rotation is Carter Hart, who played his first six NHL seasons (2018-24) with Philadelphia. The 27-year-old is one of five players eligible to sign with an NHL team no sooner than Oct. 15 after being found not guilty in July in the 2018 Canada World Junior team trial.

“His representative, Judd Moldaver, has reached out and kind of told us that in light of everything that happened in the last year and a half with Carter, they felt, and Carter felt, that it was better for them to look for a fresh start,” Briere said. “So, that’s where it’s at, and it’s the only comment I’m going to make on it.”

Moving forward is something the Flyers are also ready to do, confident their hope of becoming a consistent playoff team is near fruition.

“Our young guys were starting to step up,” Briere said. “Now we have more young guys that are pushing, and that, to me, is what is exciting. Nobody can be comfortable or happy with what they’ve done in the past; they’ve got to keep getting better and better, and that includes all our veterans, because our young guys are starting to push, and they want more, and they’re hungry for more.

“And the following year, we’re going to have more of these young guys that will be pushing — guys like (forward prospect Porter) Martone, maybe (center prospect Jack) Berglund, maybe Nesbitt. So that’s really where it’s exciting for me. And we expect more of a fight internally, and we hope that it’s going to make us better. It’s going to hopefully make us more competitive throughout the season and maybe push to get closer to the playoffs.”