Jan 3, 2026; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Philadelphia Flyers goalie Dan Vladar (80) is seen out on the ice as the Edmonton Oilers take on the Philadelphia Flyers during the first period at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images
For the first time in their tenure, Flyers management is at a crossroads.
It's a good bet that G.M. Danny Briere and President Keith Jones had an interesting flight from Buffalo to Pittsburgh Wednesday night after things continued to slide in the wrong direction for the Flyers, who lost their fourth straight game, 5-2 to the Sabres.
A week ago, they were four points out of first place. Four games later, and they are out of a playoff spot.
That's how quickly things can go south in an uber-tight Eastern Conference.
Losing skids happen. Four games is four games, it isn't the end of the world, but the Flyers have to fix what ails them soon if they continue to fancy themselves a playoff team.
But the injuries are mounting. Two more came into focus in Buffalo. First, defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen was pulled from the starting lineup 20 minutes before the game began.
The Flyers said it was an upper body injury and he is day-to-day.
But the bigger, and far more concerning injury, is goalie Dan Vladar. The Flyers starting netminder did not return after the first period. The team said it was an injury.
They didn't designate upper- or lower-body. They just said injury and that he is being re-evaluated.
This is the one where the Flyers really need to hold their breath and hope it's not serious.
Losing Vladar would be a death knell. Sure, they wouldn't officially be out of it for a couple months, but you could basically start the funeral procession.
The Flyers just don't have the goaltending depth behind him right now that they need to make a push for the postseason.
It's so close in the Eastern Conference, that even if Vladar just misses a week or two, it can doom the Flyers.
Sam Ersson can not be counted on. He faced just eight shots in two periods of relief of Vladar and somehow still saw his league-worst save percentage (among goalies with at least 15 starts) go further south by allowing two goals.
Neither were egregious, but he also didn't make a big save to help his team.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the ice...
UKKO-PEKKA LUUKKONEN 🤯
WHAT A GLOVE SAVE!
📺: @NHL_On_TNT & @StreamOnMax ➡️ https://t.co/4TuyIATi3T pic.twitter.com/p48ZlmOEBe
That's how a goalie can win you a hockey game with just one stop.
If Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen doesn't make that save, and the Flyers are on the board first, it could change the whole tenor of the game. After all, the Sabres only mustered 14 shots. If they had to chase the game a little bit instead of jumping out to a 3-0 lead, maybe things are different. Maybe the Flyers play with a little more confidence and don't give up a handful of Grade A chances.
The problem is, without Vladar, the odds of the Flyers getting electric saves with any sort of regularity are very long.
If he has to miss time, the Flyers will have to recall Aleksei Kolosov and he will be a tandem for however long Vladar is out, with Ersson.
Next week the Flyers have a road trip to Vegas, Utah and Colorado - two division leaders and a current wild card team. Woof.
They were going to make a change on defense before the Ristolainen injury, and ended up reverting to the pairings they've used most of the season. That didn't work. They've already lost Tyson Foerster for the season, and Bobby Brink is still out. Travis Konecny came back from an upper body injury Monday and Jamie Drysdale came out of the concussion protocol on Wednesday, but the Flyers have been banged up and it's starting to show.
"We're not playing smart hockey," coach Rick Tocchet told reporters in Buffalo after the game and then when asked why that's happening, he gave a few reasons. "The last three games... I don't know, pressure? Things like that, we got to deal with. You got to push back against certain things. Stupid penalties... (they're) not going to help. We just got to react better to moments. We have shots in the middle that are either blocked or over the net. ... That means you're not moving your feet, you're not manipulating their (defense). That's something we've got to continue to work on."
But as this pertains to management, this team needs help right now. They are fighting it, and their most important player had to leave the game with an injury. If Vladar is down for even a couple weeks, G.M. Danny Briere, President Keith Jones and the rest of their front office team need to ask themselves a really hard question - do we provide them with help, or do we chalk it up as a bad break and continue the rebuild as a non-playoff team ad look forward to the draft?
It's a difficult choice for them. On the one hand, they have made it an absolute goal of this team to make the playoffs and experience postseason hockey in Philadelphia. They believe there's great value in that experience for everyone, even if it ultimately ends in heartbreak or disappointment. So for that reason, finding some needed reinforcements would be well-received.
On the other, there's probably not enough wheeling and dealing they can do to fill the holes necessary, especially if Vladar is shelved.
Here is a better view of potential Dan Vladar’s injury. He initially makes a right kick save, but then overextends his right leg even farther to make another save. That second push looks to be issue. This is right before Sabres clip starts where he is in discomfort #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/fLzeQhAr0x
So, how much do you help them? Are the Flyers willing to trade valuable assets to make that push, or do they stick to their guns and let the team sink or swim on their own?
Up until a week ago, the Flyers have played better than most people expected, including within the organization. There was genuine reason for excitement. And you can tell the fanbase saw it, too. The arena was starting to be full again. It was one thing a couple days before Christmas, with schools already out on Holiday break and lots of kids in the building. It was another for the first game of the new year when the joint was packed to the gills to remind Cutter Gauthier how much he is dislike in this town.
But there have been three games since, and the building has been full.
A tight loss to Toronto precipitated getting waxed twice by the Lightning and then the loss Wednesday. Guys who have been leading the way all season, are suddenly struggling. Trevor Zegras scored on Wednesday, snapping a three-game drought without a point, but he also passed up a breakaway shot to try and make a cute drop pass that didn't even lead to a shot. His decision-making has been askew. He's had a rough few games.
The defensive pairing of Travis Sanheim and Cam York have been off. That's rare for those two, but it's been noticeable.
The power play is worse than ever, Zegras finally scored on the PP after it was 4-1 in the third period and the team went 1 for 5, but that was just a very small consolation in an otherwise brutal season for the power play unit. The penalty kill has lost it's structure and is now a middle of the pack unit after being one of the better kill units in the league earlier this season.
The Flyers need help in both of these areas.
But who? And at what cost?
They'll very likely have to recall Kolosov, and probably at the expense of Denver Barkey, who was a healthy scratch on Wednesday after starting his NHL career like a ball of fire, only to hit the wall hard in the last 10 days.
Another great night for Aleksei Kolosov, including this BEAUTIFUL save. 29/30 tonight after a shutout in his last game, back to a .908 on the year!#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/QjkmhdkDRM
Will Kolosov start tomorrow in Pittsburgh? Or do you hold your nose with one hand, cross your fingers with the other and go back to Ersson?
And if they start Kolosov, but Vladar is out for a period of time, how does Ersson react to that?
None of this is good. You know it. I know it. The Flyers know it.
Before Wednesday, if was very apparent the Flyers could realistically upgrade in three spots without burning through important capital.
Backup goalie. A bottom six forward. Another defenseman with a little snarl to his game.
But once Vladar went down, everyone, including management, is collectively holding their breath and waiting for test results on the undisclosed injury.
What will Briere and Jones do?
This is probably the cloudiest moment of their tenure. And How they handle the roster over the next three weeks will tell you all you need to know about what decision they made on the flight to Buffalo.
And more importantly, it will show you how prepared management is for it's first real test.
