Dan Vladar added two more honors to a late-season surge on Thursday, when the Philadelphia Flyers goalie received the Yannick Dupre class guy award after practice. It came two days after the 28-year-old was announced as the Bobby Clarke Trophy winner as the team's MVP for the 2025-26 season.
The class guy award is chosen by the local chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association for the Flyers player who best shows character, dignity and respect on and off the ice. The recognition fit the way Vladar described his first season in Philadelphia after signing a two-year, $6.7 million contract on July 1. “I feel like I’ve been here for a longer time than seven or eight months,” he said. “Just that feeling that everybody welcomed me, since Day 1… I felt like I can be myself, whether it was on the ice or off the ice. I just feel really good here.”
That comfort translated into results when the Flyers needed them most. Vladar started each of their final six meaningful games in an 11-day span and went 5-1-0 with a.921 save percentage and 1.81 goals-against average. For the full season, his 2.42 goals-against average ranked third in the NHL among goalies who played at least 40 games, and his.906 save percentage was ninth. Wayne Gretzky noticed the finish, calling Vladar his “real dark horse” for the Hart Trophy during the TNT broadcast on Wednesday night and adding, “Look at the year he had. Look where they are in the playoffs. He’s been outstanding.”
The timing matters because the Flyers were getting ready for a first-round Stanley Cup playoff series with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Saturday night in Pittsburgh was set to be Vladar's first career playoff start. His postseason background is thin: one relief appearance for the Boston Bruins in 2020 and another for the Calgary Flames two years later. Asked whether the recent spotlight had changed how he viewed the moment, Vladar answered simply, “No. No,” and then said his attention was on “Game No. 1” against the Penguins.
That leaves Philadelphia counting on the same goalie who steadied its stretch run to do something he has never done before. The Flyers have their MVP, their class guy and a keeper who finished the season looking like a much older hand than a player in his first year with the club. Now he has to carry that feel into the games that matter most.
