Entering the 2025-26 season, the Flyers’ biggest uncertainty sat right in the crease. Sam Ersson hadn’t taken the next step, and Philadelphia ended up leaning on Dan Vladar, a career backup, to share the job.
That arrangement didn’t last long.
Vladar grabbed control of the net and made himself the Flyers’ clear No. 1.
By the end of last season, he wasn’t just Philadelphia’s top goalie - he had played himself into the conversation as one of the league’s better ones. His 52 regular-season appearances blew past his previous career high, and he still finished with a .908 SV% and a 2.42 GAA, both career bests.
What started as a weak spot turned into a real asset.
Now the Flyers may have something even more interesting behind him.
Before the 2026 NHL Draft, Philadelphia added Joseph Woll from the Toronto Maple Leafs, giving the club a tandem that could shape up as one of its biggest strengths next season. The move gives the Flyers a second goalie with enough talent to matter on his own, and it changes the feel of the position immediately.
Ersson’s season never really matched the need. Aside from a strong stretch later on, he didn’t deliver enough, and that eventually pushed him out of the picture. Philadelphia needed a backup for Vladar, but Woll looks like much more than a simple fill-in.
He’s coming off a rough year with Toronto, when he posted a career-low .899 SV% and a 3.34 GAA, also the worst of his career. But the seasons before that tell a different story: a .909 SV% and 2.74 GAA in 42 games, then a .907 SV% and 2.94 GAA in 25 games.
If Woll gets back to that level, the Flyers could have a tandem that’s genuinely dangerous.
He doesn’t need to take over the job. He just needs to give Vladar real relief and keep Philadelphia confident when the starter sits.
And there’s a reason to think a rebound is possible. Woll’s 3.34 GAA last season came while he faced 1,220 shots - only 63 fewer than Vladar, despite playing in 13 fewer games.
If the Flyers can tighten things up in front of him and cut down the shot volume, Woll’s numbers have a clear path back toward where they were before.
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