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Flyers poach center from Canadiens, sign veteran goalie in free agency
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- Flyers poach center from Canadiens, sign veteran goalie in free agency
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The post Flyers poach center from Canadiens, sign veteran goalie in free agency appeared first on ClutchPoints .
The Philadelphia Flyers have made a flurry of additions in NHL Free Agency, the most notable including the signings of center Christian Dvorak and goaltender Dan Vladar , general manager Danny Briere announced. The franchise has also added defensemen Noah Juulsen and Dennis Gilbert , along with depth center Lane Pederson .
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Dvorak and Vladar are certainly the marquee signings of the group; the former was one of the best remaining free-agent options in a relatively weak center class. Dvorak is coming off a decent 2024-25 campaign with the Montreal Canadiens , where he scored 12 goals and 33 points over a full 82-game slate.
He has a career 53.1 percent success rate on faceoffs throughout his 534-game NHL career, which should be a huge help for a Flyers team that is significantly lacking down the middle. He joins trade acquisition Trevor Zegras to help shore up the position in 2025-26.
If Philly is unable to rebound from a tough campaign, Dvorak could be a prime trade deadline candidate after signing a one-year deal with a $5.4 million cap hit. It's a steep price, but the longtime Canadien should be a good add to the forward core. The 10-year NHL veteran has recorded 249 career regular-season points.
Dan Vladar should give Flyers stability in net
Another place the team badly needed an upgrade was between the pipes. Philly had the worst save percentage in the league in 2024-25, with neither Samuel Ersson or Ivan Fedotov providing much stability at all between the pipes.
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Briere hopes that the addition of Vladar will do just that; the 27-year-old signed a two-year contract with a $3.35 million AAV. After Jake Allen re-signed with the New Jersey Devils , Vladar emerged into one of the best UFA options on the market.
The former Calgary Flame was one of the league's better backups in 2024-25, seeing 30 starts and posting a 2.80 goals-against average and .898 save percentage in that span, along with a .586 quality start percentage. With Dustin Wolf the goaltender of the future in Alberta, it made sense that Vladar looked for a change of scenery.
If anything, Vladar brings more stability to Philadelphia's crease, and gives the squad some breathing room on a two-year deal. Both he and Dvorak should make an immediate impact in the City of Brotherly Love in 2025-26.
The Flyers also announced one-year deals for Gilbert ($875,000), Juulsen ($900,000) and Pederson (two-way, $775,000).
All transactions on Tuesday are being followed and analyzed in ClutchPoints' NHL Free Agent tracker .
Related: Flyers' Tyson Foerester gets crushing injury timeline for 2025-26 season
