Ilya Bryzgalov’s time with the Philadelphia Flyers didn’t go so well. After two years of being Philadelphia’s quote machine, Bryzgalov was bought out by the Flyers with seven years left on his contract.
However, it could be Bryzgalov’s son, Vladislav Bryzgalov, who turns the page for the Orange and Black.
Vladislav, born Feb. 3, 2006, just turned 18 years old last week. Bryzgalov is an American goalie prospect hailing from Haddonfield, NJ, who is eligible for the 2024 NHL Draft. With the sudden departure of Carter Hart, every goalie in the Flyers organization got bumped up a spot on the depth chart.
That means the Flyers are likely open to drafting even more goalies in the 2024 NHL Draft to complement the likes of Alexei Kolosov, Carson Bjarnason, and Yegor Zavragin. For Bryzgalov to play for the Flyers like his dad, though, a lot would have to fall in place for him.
For starters, Bryzgalov isn’t the biggest goalie, standing at 6-foot. Arguably, the largest obstacle is the level of competition at which the 2024 draft-eligible plays. Bryzgalov currently plies his trade in the NCDC.
If you’ve never heard of that before, it’s the National Collegiate Development Conference.
Bryzgalov plays for the Ogden Mustangs, but his numbers are quietly excellent. The 18-year-old is 14-5-3 with a 2.15 GAA and a .933 save percentage. Might the NCDC be too easy for him? Time will tell, but a jump up to the NCAA, for example, exponentially raises the odds Bryzgalov makes it onto the Flyers‘ radar, or any NHL team’s radar for that matter.
For what it’s worth, he is ranked No. 31 amongst North American goalies by NHL Central Scouting.
Here’s another interesting note: Ilya Bryzgalov is getting paid $1.642 million by the Flyers through 2026-27. Vladislav will turn 21 before the end of that season. If Vladislav manages to play for the Flyers that year, he will have gotten paid less to play for the Flyers than his father is getting paid to not play for the Flyers.
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