Dan Vladar gets start over Sam Ersson in Flyers’ season opener
The Philadelphia Flyers’ lineup for the season opener already raised a lot of questions, and Rick Tocchet raised a few more eyebrows on Thursday morning.
It will be free-agent addition Dan Vladar getting the start in net for the season opener against the Florida Panthers on Thursday night. Sam Ersson will ride the pine after being the team’s starting goalie last season.
Ersson started 45 games last season for the Flyers, going 22-17-5 with a career-worst .883 SV% and 3.14 GAA. Vladar played backup to Dustin Wolf in Calgary, posting an .898 SV% and 2.80 GAA in 29 starts.
“Well, Sam could have played. It’s just that you have to pick a goalie,” Tocchet said to media after the morning skate on Thursday. “So we decided to go Vladar, and then we’ll go from there.”
Tocchet praised Vladar’s work in camp and pointed to that as a reason for giving him the nod on opening night.
“I thought they both had good camps,” he said. “I think Vladdy did a nice job, and that’s why we decided to go with him.”
To be fair, Vladar did look like the better goalie in training camp and the preseason. In just under 50 minutes, he allowed six goals on 49 shots for an .878 save percentage, per CBS Sports. On the flip side, Ersson allowed 10 goals on 63 shots (.841 SV%) in just over 45 minutes of action.
After using three goalies last season and five the year prior, the Flyers have a goalie controversy right out of the gate to start the year.
It’s going to be a tough first start for Vladar, though, with the reigning Stanley Cup champions coming off a 3-2 win on opening night against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Panthers had a nice night with 69 shot attempts, 38 scoring chances, and 18 high-danger chances in a game that would’ve been a blowout had it not been for Spencer Knight in net.
Daniel Briere made it clear over the summer that the Flyers would have a goalie competition in training camp and throughout the season. Vladar came to Philadelphia with the right mindset, and that has earned him the start on opening night.
Blackhawks Already Preparing For Lineup Changes After One Game
After one game, a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, the Chicago Blackhawks are preparing for lineup changes already.
They didn't get blown out on the scoreboard, but the Blackhawks didn't play particularly well. If Spencer Knight didn't have an above-average performance, the score would have been a lot worse.
When they take on the Boston Bruins in game two of the season, they will line up a little bit differently.
Dach - Bedard - Burakovsky
Teravainen - Nazar - Bertuzzi
Donato - Dickinson - Mikheyev
Foligno - Greene - Lafferty
Vlasic - Rinzel
Kaiser - Levshunov
Grzelcyk - Murphy
Soderblom
For one, they will go to Arvid Soderblom in net. He will make his first start of the season. Soderblom played very well in the last start he made during the 2024-25 season, which also came against the Boston Bruins. He was excellent in the preseason to prepare for this moment. Knight, who will still get a majority of the games this season, will have plenty of rest thanks to the depth that Soderblom helps provide.
One major change to the skaters is that Alex Vlasic will make his season debut. He missed the second half of the preseason and first regular-season game recovering from a lower-body injury, but he is ready to play. The top pair with Sam Rinzel will be his home to begin the year, and that will likely stick.
Ethan Del Mastro will come out of the lineup for Vlasic. Matt Grzelcyk, who took the role of the top pair with Rinzel against the Panthers, will fall to the third pair in Del Mastro's spot next to Connor Murphy. Like it has for most of camp, the pair of Wyatt Kaiser and Artyom Levshunov will stay intact.
The second and fourth forward lines will remain the same, but Jeff Blashill is making a switch with the first and third lines. Ryan Donato and Colton Dach are switching spots. Dach will get an opportunity on the top line with Connor Bedard and Andre Burakovsky, while Donato will go onto the checking line with Jason Dickinson and Ilya Mikheyev. Both guys are capable of thriving in these new roles, but only time will tell if it sticks.
