VOORHEES, N.J. — Dan Vladar has already earned a pair of awards. On Tuesday, Vladar was announced as the Bobby Clarke Trophy winner as Philadelphia Flyers team MVP for the 2025-26 season, as voted on by the local media. The Yannick Dupre class guy award, selected by the local chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association as the Flyers player “who best illustrates character, dignity and respect both on and off the ice,” was presented to Vladar on Thursday after practice.
Both are deserved. Vladar’s steady and often spectacular netminding is reason No. 1 the Flyers are preparing for a first-round Stanley Cup playoff series with the Pittsburgh Penguins. And, as just about all of his teammates have said at one point or another — and which the local media can confirm — Vladar is just, well, a good guy. It’s difficult to envision a player fitting in so well so quickly, both on and off the ice, as Vladar has since signing a two-year, $6.7 million contract on July 1.
Just take Vladar’s word for it.
“I feel like I’ve been here for a longer time than seven or eight months,” Vladar said on Thursday. “Just that feeling that everybody welcomed me, since Day 1… I felt like I can be myself, whether it was on the ice or off the ice. I just feel really good here.”
Others outside of Philadelphia are taking notice, too. The way Vladar finished the season is probably why. Starting each of the Flyers’ final six meaningful games in just an 11-day span, Vladar went 5-1-0 with a .921 save percentage and 1.81 goals-against average. When the games were most important, and despite the hectic schedule, Vladar played his best hockey at the most crucial time, helping the Flyers earn what was arguably the NHL’s most unlikely playoff berth.
In fact, recognition for Vladar came from hockey royalty on Wednesday night. On the TNT broadcast, Wayne Gretzky ran through a list of names that he believes should be long-shot considerations for the Hart Trophy as league MVP.
“My real dark horse is the goaltender in Philadelphia,” Gretzky said. “Look at the year he had. Look where they are in the playoffs. He’s been outstanding.”
Now, no one expects Vladar to win the Hart. But his getting a handful of fourth or fifth-place votes is possible, particularly if voters weigh how valuable each player was to his particular team. There remains the Vezina Trophy as the top goalie in the league, too, and for which Vladar could conceivably be one of the three finalists. After all, among goalies that played at least 40 games, Vladar’s 2.42 goals-against average was third in the NHL, and his .906 save percentage was ninth.
Has any of that speculation popped up on Vladar’s radar?
“No. No,” he said. “For me, it’s Game No. 1 (against the Penguins) that’s on my radar.”
Saturday night in Pittsburgh will be Vladar’s first career playoff start. The 28-year-old’s postseason experience consists of one relief appearance for the Boston Bruins in 2020 and another in Calgary for the Flames two years later. He’s as unacquainted with the playoffs as the majority of his teammates.
Even with the way he’s played to this point, there is a level of uncertainty with how Vladar will handle hockey’s biggest stage.
“He was a huge part of the Flyers’ success, but making the playoffs and having success in the playoffs are two different things,” former Flyers goalie Martin Biron told The Athletic. “I think if the first couple of games go well, he will be just fine. If not, it’s going to be hard mentally to battle through that.”
From Vladar’s standpoint, though, he doesn’t seem overly stressed.
“I’m not worried at all,” Vladar said. “It’s excitement. That’s all I remember (from past playoffs), just excitement. That’s why we play hockey.”
What likely eases Vladar’s mind is the way he stepped up in that final week and a half of the regular season, culminating with a 3-2 shootout win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday, in which he made a number of stellar saves in regulation and overtime.
The primary question about Vladar was whether a goalie who had never played in more than 30 games in a season could shoulder a substantially heavier workload. Not only did he do it, playing 52 in all, but his ability to battle through late-season fatigue and even raise his game for what were essentially must-wins is why he’s now being mentioned as one of the league’s top goalies, and the biggest advantage the Flyers have over the Penguins.
Vladar showed can thrive in an every-other-day situation in which just one bad goal can spell disaster. That’s what the Stanley Cup playoffs are all about. And it’s why the Flyers have faith that Vladar can keep on rolling against the Penguins, and perhaps beyond.
“If you look at his last month … he’s had a pretty good runway of these type of games,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “We’re just playing a team more often. I don’t know if that’s a big deal. I’m not worried. The fact he played (six) in a row in these pressure situations, I think that has helped him, for sure.”
Something else that encourages Tocchet is that Vladar doesn’t let bad games linger. When he was pulled in a 6-3 loss to the Red Wings on April 9 after allowing four goals on eight shots in what was his only bad game over that final stretch, Vladar stopped 27 of 28 shots two days later in a 7-1 Flyers win in Winnipeg, including some difficult first period attempts from the Jets when the game was still tight.
“The next game, he’s usually pretty strong,” Tocchet said. “That says a lot.”
Said Cam York: “He’s been our MVP this year.”
Vladar credited Flyers goalie coach Kim Dillabaugh for helping him since the beginning of training camp. Dillabaugh’s message to Vladar was that there were times he was going to have to play tired, or sore, or on days in which he didn’t feel his best. Practice time was going to be at a premium, further complicating things, with the condensed, Olympic-year schedule.
Consequently, Dillabaugh would often remind Vladar to “just believe in your pillars you’re trying to work on every single day,” Vladar said.
Perhaps that’s why Vladar seems so calm and cool. Even at practice on Thursday ahead of what will be the biggest game of his life, Vladar was enjoying himself, chirping teammates and bringing smiles to their faces after rush drills.
Sticking with what’s gotten him here seems to be Vladar’s intention.
“I’m trying to treat every single game the same way, whether it’s October or late April,” Vladar said. “I can’t try harder to stop the puck, because I’m already doing that. Nothing’s changing for me.”