Depth and flexibility: These were the two purposes behind the five signings the Flyers organization made on the first day of free agency across the National Hockey League.
The Flyer signed center Christian Dvorak, goaltender Dan Vladar, and defensemen Noah Juulsen and Dennis Gilbert. Additionally, the organization added center Lane Pederson.
Flyers General Manager Daniel Briere told the local media on Tuesday that he prioritized long-range salary cap flexibility in the signings. Four of the five signings are one-year deals. The other is a two-season contract.
"We focused on term, short-term to try to fill those holes. Guys, they were willing to bet on themselves which is awesome. For us, the term was way more important than anything else," Briere said.
Thee general manager noted that he was willing to trade off spending a bit more on salary for certain players in exchange for shorter-term deals.
"Sometimes you've got to give in somewhere to those types of players to come in. We know the salaries were very competitive, but where it helps us is it keeps the flexibility moving forward in our favor," Briere said.
Dvorak, 29, signed a one-year, $5.4 million contract. The veteran two-way center is primarily a third-line player at five-on-five and a penalty killer. He's particularly strong on faceoffs (career 53.1 winning percentage). The Illinois native has periodically moved over to play left wing during his career but he'll mostly play in the middle for new head coach Rick Tocchet.
With the trade departures of Scott Laughton (Montreal) and Ryan Poehling (Anaheim), the Flyers had a need for a player with Dvorak's main strengths. Additionally, he does have some offensive ability. Dvorak has topped 30-plus points six times in his career, including a 12-goal, 33-point season for the Montreal Canadiens in 2024-25. He chipped in two goals in five games during the Habs' first-round playoff series against Washngton this spring.
Dvorak can periodically slide up a line to contribute timely offense on a secondary power play unit or take some shifts in the upper end of the middle six at even strength. He's also been stationed at netfront periodically on power plays. A perennial double-digit goal scorer, Dvorak topped out at 18 goals in 2019-20 and has scored a dozen or more goals in five seasons.
Dvorak (6-foot-1, 190 pounds) dressed in every game of the 2024-25 regular season after injuries limited him to 30 games the previous campaign. He plays a clean, disciplined game and has never taken more than 12 minor penalties in a season (120 career penalty minutes in 534 games).
If the Flyers end up in seller mode before the 2026 trade deadline, Dvorak's expiring contract is a very trade-friendly type of deal. Teams stocking up for the playoffs look to add players like Dvorak to bolster their lineups. Of course, the Flyers themselves hope that new head coach Tocchet's team will compete for a playoff spot for the 2025-26 stretch drive. Dvorak is a role player but a very good one for the tasks he'll be asked to perform.
"I’m excited about him. I think part of the enticement for him is the opportunities that he’s going to have. It’s no secret that we’re pretty thin in the middle. [Sean] Couturier and [Noah] Cates really are the only two for sure. We hope that [Trevor] Zegras can play center as well, but there’s opportunities there for [Dvorak]. Probably more than he would’ve seen somewhere else," Brere said.
"I feel that was probably very enticing for him. So to get a big body like that, that can play a 200-foot game, win faceoffs for us. I think he makes us a better team by having him down the middle."
Vladar's projected role is to compete in a tandem with Samuel Ersson. Incumbent backup Ivan Fedotov is still in the mix as well. Aleksei Kolsov has one year remaining on his NHL contract.
Last season with the Calgary Flames, 6-foot-5 Czech netminder Vladar backed up Dustin Wolf.
Vladar scuffled before the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. However, he played very well down the stretch as Calgary stayed in the playoff chase until the penultimate game before losing out (via tiebreaker) to the St. Louis Blues for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
From March 1 to the end of the season, Vladar posted a 2.14 goals against average and .920 save percentage in 393 minutes of game action. He won each of his final four starts, with three coming in must-win situations. Calder Trophy finalist Wolf played 1080 minutes (2.72 GAA, .904 save percentage) during the stretch drive.
"Vladar told us very early on that he saw an opportunity, he wanted to come in and compete in Philadelphia, so we jumped on it....There’s no perfect goalie that was available out there, but we feel he gives us a chance to come in and compete with our group and push the envelope," Briere said.
"He has a chance to become our number one depending on how he plays, how the other guys play."
The Flyers signed Vladar to a two-year term with an average annual value of $3.35 million. Briere said on Tuesday that going longer than one season was necessary in the goalie marketplace this offseason. However, the two-year contract length for Vladar was something acceptable both to the team and the player.
Juulsen, 28, signed a one-year, $900,000 contract. He will likely serve as the sixth or seventh defenseman on the NHL depth chart. He could see time filling in for Rasmus Ristolainen (surgery to repair a torn triceps) early in the regular season. Juulsen played under Tocchet with the Vancouver Canucks. He brings a right-handed shot and a 6-foot-2, 201-pound frame.
Gilbert, 29, agreed to a one-year, $875,000 deal. He brings a physical game and blueline depth with a left-handed shot. The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder split last season between the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators.
Twenty-seven-year-old Pederson signed a one year, two-way contract worth $775,00 at the NHL level. He has primarily played at the AHL level but has appeared in a combined 71 career NHL games for four teams.
