{"id":554474,"date":"2026-04-17T11:12:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T11:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/554474\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T11:12:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T11:12:18","slug":"flyers-dan-vladar-remains-levelheaded-as-playoffs-approach-nothings-changing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/554474\/","title":{"rendered":"Flyers\u2019 Dan Vladar remains levelheaded as playoffs approach: \u2018Nothing\u2019s changing\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

VOORHEES, N.J. \u2014 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 \u201cwho best illustrates character, dignity and respect both on and off the ice,\u201d was presented to Vladar on Thursday after practice<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Both are deserved. Vladar\u2019s 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 \u2014 and which the local media can confirm \u2014 Vladar is just, well, a good guy. It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Just take Vladar\u2019s word for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve been here for a longer time than seven or eight months,\u201d Vladar said on Thursday. \u201cJust that feeling that everybody welcomed me, since Day 1\u2026 I felt like I can be myself, whether it was on the ice or off the ice. I just feel really good here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others outside of Philadelphia are taking notice, too. The way Vladar finished the season is probably why. Starting each of the Flyers\u2019 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\u2019s most unlikely playoff berth.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy real dark horse is the goaltender in Philadelphia,\u201d Gretzky said. \u201cLook at the year he had. Look where they are in the playoffs. He\u2019s been outstanding.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 2.42 goals-against average was third in the NHL, and his .906 save percentage was ninth.<\/p>\n

Has any of that speculation popped up on Vladar\u2019s radar?<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. No,\u201d he said. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s Game No. 1 (against the Penguins) that\u2019s on my radar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saturday night in Pittsburgh will be Vladar\u2019s first career playoff start. The 28-year-old\u2019s postseason experience consists of one relief appearance for the Boston Bruins in 2020 and another in Calgary for the Flames two years later. He\u2019s as unacquainted with the playoffs as the majority of his teammates.<\/p>\n

Even with the way he\u2019s played to this point, there is a level of uncertainty with how Vladar will handle hockey\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a huge part of the Flyers\u2019 success, but making the playoffs and having success in the playoffs are two different things,\u201d former Flyers goalie Martin Biron told The Athletic. \u201cI think if the first couple of games go well, he will be just fine. If not, it\u2019s going to be hard mentally to battle through that.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Vladar\u2019s standpoint, though, he doesn\u2019t seem overly stressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not worried at all,\u201d Vladar said. \u201cIt\u2019s excitement. That\u2019s all I remember (from past playoffs), just excitement. That\u2019s why we play hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n

What likely eases Vladar\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s now being mentioned as one of the league\u2019s top goalies, and the biggest advantage the Flyers have over the Penguins.<\/p>\n

Vladar showed can thrive in an every-other-day situation in which just one bad goal can spell disaster. That\u2019s what the Stanley Cup playoffs are all about. And it\u2019s why the Flyers have faith that Vladar can keep on rolling against the Penguins, and perhaps beyond.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at his last month \u2026 he\u2019s had a pretty good runway of these type of games,\u201d coach Rick Tocchet said. \u201cWe\u2019re just playing a team more often. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s a big deal. I\u2019m not worried. The fact he played (six) in a row in these pressure situations, I think that has helped him, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Something else that encourages Tocchet is that Vladar doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next game, he\u2019s usually pretty strong,\u201d Tocchet said. \u201cThat says a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said Cam York: \u201cHe\u2019s been our MVP this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vladar credited Flyers goalie coach Kim Dillabaugh for helping him since the beginning of training camp. Dillabaugh\u2019s 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\u2019t feel his best. Practice time was going to be at a premium, further complicating things, with the condensed, Olympic-year schedule.<\/p>\n

Consequently, Dillabaugh would often remind Vladar to \u201cjust believe in your pillars you\u2019re trying to work on every single day,\u201d Vladar said.<\/p>\n

Perhaps that\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Sticking with what\u2019s gotten him here seems to be Vladar\u2019s intention.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to treat every single game the same way, whether it\u2019s October or late April,\u201d Vladar said. \u201cI can\u2019t try harder to stop the puck, because I\u2019m already doing that. Nothing\u2019s changing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VOORHEES, N.J. \u2014 Dan Vladar has already earned a pair of awards. On Tuesday, Vladar was announced as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5112],"tags":[1468,5,4,1467,56,5205],"class_list":{"0":"post-554474","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-flyers","8":"tag-flyers","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-philadelphia","12":"tag-philadelphia-flyers","13":"tag-philadelphiaflyers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116419752369759194","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}