In recent days, there have been several reports that key veterans are looking to leave the Flames. But those players might not be the only ones on the move as Pierre LeBrun, Michael Russo and Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic report (subscription link) that Calgary is shopping goaltender Dan Vladar around the league.
The 25-year-old is coming off his second season as being the backup to Jacob Markstrom. His numbers dipped a bit this season as Calgary struggled, posting a 2.87 goals-against average with a .894 save percentage, 12 points lower than his mark from 2021-22. That said, the drop-off in performance isn’t shocking with the Flames going from winning the Pacific Division a year ago to missing the playoffs this past season.
Vladar will be entering the first season of a two-year contract that he signed back in October, one that carries an AAV of $2.2M. As far as backup goaltenders go, that’s still on the lower scale. However, with the Flames having Dustin Wolf in their system with a cap hit that’s less than $50K above the league minimum, making that goalie swap would free up some much-needed cap space; Calgary currently sits with just $1.25M in room, per CapFriendly, with multiple roster spots to fill.
However, with Vladar’s contract being on the lower end for a second-stringer, it’s one that should carry some value around the league. LeBrun, Russo and Duhatschek note that the Flames expect to at least get a second-round pick for the netminder, which would be an improvement on the third-rounder they parted with to get him back in 2021.
The free-agent market for goaltenders is relatively thin this summer, which has resulted in some speculation surrounding netminders on the trade front. It appears that Vladar is now a part of that list, joining veterans Connor Hellebuyck, John Gibson and Chris Driedger who have all come up in trade speculation in recent weeks. If a team is looking to get a jumpstart on shoring up their backup situation, there’s a good chance they’ll be calling up new GM Craig Conroy in the near future if they haven’t done so already.
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