The Philadelphia Flyers may have a keeper on their hands when it comes to goalie Dan Vladar, but keeping the veteran beyond his two-year contract may prove to be costly.
Vladar, 28, is in the first year of the two-year, $6.7 million ($3.35 million AAV) contract he signed with the Flyers on the first day of free agency on July 1 and can sign an extension with Philadelphia as soon as this upcoming July 1.
The big question mark, of course, is that Vladar will be 30 years old when he plays his first game on an extension, and the Flyers have prospects Carson Bjarnason and Egor Zavragin quickly climbing the ranks.
There's also no telling what the future holds for Aleksei Kolosov, who has undergone a career resurgence in the AHL this season.
So, while the Flyers do have to consider Vladar's age and his long-term future in Philadelphia, they also have to consider their options if they choose to move on at some point; his trade value will probably never be higher than it is now.
There are also no guarantees his repeated feats in goal are sustainable.
Sam Ersson's odds of having a future with the Flyers are all but nil after consecutive seasons riddled with injuries and maddeningly inconsistent performances.
And for the Flyers as an organization, the successful quest of finding a goaltender like Vladar was certainly more of a flash in the pan than a trend.
If Vladar is moved at peak value instead of staying put for several years at an increased cost, the Flyers' external options would include pending free agents Stuart Skinner, Matt Murray, David Rittich, and Daniil Tarasov.
Potential trade candidates would include Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Akira Schmid, Alex Lyon, and Jordan Binnington. All in all, not the most convincing group with the hassle of moving a well-liked player and bringing another in.
As for the rotational goalie or 1B goalie market, it's worth noting that MacKenzie Blackwood, Logan Thompson, Adin Hill, and Filip Gustavsson are all making (or set to be making) north of $5 million on the cap annually.
The most apt reference for Vladar's next contract might be that of Kevin Lankinen, who was the recipient of a five-year, $22.5 million ($4.5 million AAV) contract after a similar breakout season last year.
Lankinen, 30, has a full no-move clause in each of his first two seasons of the contract, which converts to a 15-team no-trade list in the final three years of the pact.
Should Vladar successfully bargain for a similar contract, that could very well look like five years and $25 million. It's not too terrible a price to pay for the Flyers, but it would behoove them to identify their future piece(s) in net before the inevitable decline in performance hits them.
Between Bjarnason, Kolosov, and Zavragin, the Flyers have a fine base to work with, but they ought to draft at least one more goalie and further add to the NHL mix before next season, given their lack of workable intermediate options behind Vladar.
After a dominant 26-save performance against his former team, the Boston Bruins, Vladar now sits at 18-9-6 on the season with a 2.42 GAA and a .907 save percentage while starting a career-high 34 games and counting.
The Czech Olympian has more than earned a big contract wherever he ends up next, and the Flyers will have to make a decision on his future sooner than later.