What’s a Philadelphia Flyers season without question marks in between the pipes?
Dan Vladař has surprised many with his outstanding goaltending figures to start the 2025-26 season, but on the flip side, Samuel Ersson has really struggled despite posting a 3-1-2 record.
Taking out their most recent drubbing at the hands of the Dallas Stars, Vladař had posted a 6-3-1 record with a 2.10 GAA and a .919 SV%. He was a rallying force behind most of their wins and didn’t really have a bad game outside of his loss against Toronto, where he was pulled in favour of Aleksei Kolosov.
Ersson on the other hand has posted a save percentage above .897 only once in a pretty sparkling performance against Pittsburgh. However, in his other 5 games he’s allowed 19 goals on 109 shots. He’s been spectacular in the shootout, where he’s claimed all his victories, but it’s far and away what the Flyers expected – and needed – out of him in a contract season.
However, despite his struggles over the last 2 calendar years, the Flyers haven’t lost faith in the 26-year-old, according to DFO’s Anthony Di Marco.
The goaltending landscape in Philadelphia is pretty barren when factoring in the able-bodies who could step into their NHL roster. Additionally, they didn’t draft a single goaltender at this year’s draft and Vladař is the only one signed through next season.
Although Ersson has continued to struggle, Di Marco notes that the Flyers brass is still very impressed by his resiliency and ability to perform in big moments, despite what the overall stats might show you.
“Speaking with a team source, Ersson’s play to this point has not yet damaged faith among the Flyers’ brass. According to the source, Ersson’s resiliency and ability to perform in big moments has still given the Flyers confidence in him to this point.
“Focusing on recent play, it was indicated to me two big saves Ersson made last Friday night versus the St. Louis Blues. After giving up two goals that could be described as “questionable,” Ersson was able to battle through the end of the game and make big saves and stop all shootout attempts for the Blues to secure the victory.”
Consistency has been a problem and things have never steadied since Carter Hart’s departure.
Ersson started out the 2023-24 season at 12-5-3 with a .911 SV% and a 2.30 GAA, which also included a run where he went 9-2-2 with a .933 SV% and a 1.80 GAA before Hart left the team.
The rookie goaltender then went 9-14-5 with a .867 SV% and a 3.00 GAA in his next 28 games, before ending the season on a high note with a 2-1-0 record, .968 SV%, and just 2 goals allowed. The damage had already been done though, as the Flyers flamed out in March and lost their playoff spot by April.
It was a brutal stretch for the young netminder, who allowed 43 goals in 12 games, posted a .835 SV%, and was pulled 4 times. During that skid, Ersson posted a save percentage above .901 only twice as the team capitulated in the worst way possible.
Moreover, things never really got back on track in 2024-25 either despite a 22-17-5 record, as he posted a .883 SV% and a 3.14 GAA. In fact, since he took over as the starting netminder, Ersson has posted a 36-32-12 record, but has allowed 243 goals on 1,987 shots, for a .877 SV% and a GAA well above 3.
What works in his favour is that he has no one contending for his spot in the near future outside of Kolosov. Ersson was expected to be the 1A to Vladař’s 1B to start the season, but even through his struggles, the Flyers don’t really have a ‘Plan C’. Kolosov will remain with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms outside of an injury, which should allow Ersson to fight through his struggles and regain his confidence and momentum.
There’s also no quick fix to the Flyers’ goaltending woes because the market is as barren as it’s ever been. Goaltenders are very rarely made available as most teams try to develop from within. However, there were a few outliers to the rule last year, as Colorado traded for both of their goalies within a week of each other, Florida moved Spencer Knight for Seth Jones, and Nashville moved the disgruntled Yaroslav Askarov.
However, each situation was unique in its own way. Mackenzie Blackwood had been struggling mightily in San Jose before his move to Colorado, Knight had lost his role in Florida and the Panthers were gearing up for another Cup run, and people are still trying to wrap their heads around why Nashville moved Askarov, let alone why they extended Juuse Saros to an 8-year deal.
Goaltenders that could be available on the free agent market next summer include Petr Mrázek, Stuart Skinner, Alex Nedeljkovic, Cam Talbot, and Frederik Andersen. It’s entirely conceivable that both Andersen and Skinner re-up with their current teams, which leaves an already barren pool even more empty. Sergei Bobrovsky is also apart of the list but it’s a foregone conclusion he stays in Florida.
Additionally, amongst the top-20 goaltenders that could be available on July 1st, ranked by current AAV, Ersson is the second-youngest behind Sebastian Cossa. If his struggles continue throughout the season, the Flyers’ patience could finally wear thin, but for all intents and purposes, he will more than likely be brought back on a new contract.
What will help the Flyers is that Ersson won’t command a lot of money or term on his next deal. He doesn’t seem to be the long-term solution in goal as the Flyers are waiting on Carson Bjarnason and Egor Zavragin, but they’re also in no hurry to rush their development through rebuilding seasons.
With the salary cap rising to a projected $104 million next season, the Flyers are in line to have just under $48 million in open cap space. Bobby Brink, Jamie Drysdale, and Trevor Zegras will be the priorities, but outside of that, they don’t have too much to worry about as Emil Andrae, Nikita Grebenkin, and Kolosov are all RFAs.
There’s still a lot of hockey to be played, but if Ersson can rectify his early season struggles, he can help his own cause come contract time. A new deal could fall under 2-3 years in term with an AAV of $2.5-3 million, which is respectable market value for an RFA goaltender with a few years of experience.
Despite Di Marco mentioning that the Flyers still have faith in him, it might have to do with the fact that they don’t really have a choice. We’ve seen what he can do when he’s on his game, he has excelled in the shootouts, and he does have a winning record – albeit with bad peripherals.
If the Flyers were pushing out of their rebuild and trying to make the playoffs, it would be a different story, but as things stand today, they’re more than happy with keeping Ersson and are hoping that he can return to form.
We’re finally witnessing what average-to-good goaltending can do for this team, a question that has been posited for the last 3 seasons. The Flyers are winning despite Ersson’s play and it can only get better if he gets back on track.
