Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but the Philadelphia Flyers have a goaltending problem.

Coming into the season, it was assumed that incumbent starter Sam Ersson and newcomer Dan Vladar would compete for starts in a tandem situation. Given that Ersson has been with the Flyers for the last few years, it wasn’t a stretch to think that he would get the opening night start and have the lead in the tandem.

But that hasn’t been the case.

Vladar won the starting job out of training camp and hasn’t let go. Through 18 games, Vladar has started 11, with Ersson getting six and Aleksei Kolosov being called upon for one. That’s quite the start share for the veteran, and Ersson has left much to be desired during his time in the crease.

His numbers came down quite a bit after the Stars lit him up for five goals on Saturday night, but Vladar still has a solid .909 save percentage and 2.42 goals-against average. On the other hand, Ersson has struggled with an .844 SV% and 3.30 GAA.

A lot of the talk around Ersson during and after his starts is that he looks better than the numbers show. And while that may be true on some nights, we don’t have to rely on the eye test while pointing to the low number of shots that he faced. Instead, we can look at some of the advanced stats like goals saved above expected (GSAX), where Vladar and Ersson have been polar opposites.

According to MoneyPuck, Ersson has the sixth-worst GSAX in the league at -4.6, while Vladar ranks 15th at 6.1. When factoring in how much they have played, Ersson drops down to the fourth-lowest GSAX/60 at -0.72, with Vladar at 24 due to some goalies who haven’t played as much.

Unfortunately, this isn’t anything new for Ersson.

Last season, Ersson was dead last with -19.9 GSAX, allowing nearly 20 more goals than expected. Vladar, while playing in a backup role and getting the harder starts due to the Flames insulating Dustin Wolf, had a solid 0.9 GSAX, good for 44th overall. That’s all you can really ask out of your goalie, to save the goals that are expected. Anything else is gravy — at least in Philadelphia.

Even going back two seasons, Ersson had a -4.8 GSAX, which was at least better than three other Flyers netminders, but still ranked 24th worst in the league.

The Swedish netminder might simply be showing us what he is. He’s 26 years old now, and some goalies don’t hit their peak until their late-20s, but it could be getting late early in Philadelphia for Ersson.

While Ersson certainly isn’t at the level of a starting goalie, he may be able to hold his own as a backup. He typically performs better when he’s a bit rested, but the Flyers don’t really have the luxury of playing him as a true backup.

Can Vladar be a true starter for Flyers?

Goaltending tandems are the present and future in the NHL. Vladar was brought in to compete for the starter’s job, and he’s won it, but asking him to start more than 40 games might be a bit much.

Last season was the first time that Vladar cracked 30 NHL games in a season, starting 29 and coming in relief once. Prior to that, he started 19, 23, and 19 games in his first three years in Calgary.

Even when you factor in playoff starts and combine leagues, Vladar hasn’t played in more than 30 games in a season since seeing 32 total games with the Providence Bruins in the 2018-19 season. Asking him to go from 30 games to 40 or even 45 or 50 might see him revert to the .895 SV% goalie that he was entering this season — and that would still be better than Ersson’s career .886 SV%!

Ersson was tasked with bridging the gap for the Flyers over the last few seasons while the team was in the early stages of the rebuild. But if they’re ready to take the next step, they might need to look for outside help in net.

Could Flyers trade for a goalie?

Trading for a goalie certainly wasn’t on Danny Briere’s to-do list entering the season. Ersson and Vladar can split starts, and Kolosov is capable enough of coming up to be the backup or for a spot start here and there.

But what if the Flyers are still in the playoffs when the calendar flips to 2026? Or at the Olympic break? Or what if Ersson’s injuries crop up again on top of that?

Despite not really having great options in net, the Flyers do have their four goalies set at the NHL and AHL level. Kolosov and Carson Bjarnasson are splitting time for the Phantoms, and there’s no need to add a third goalie into the mix.

The only situation we could see where the Flyers trade for a goalie is if they’re in playoff contention in the weeks or months leading up to the deadline and Ersson gets hurt. Trading for a veteran goalie to join Vladar’s tandem likely wouldn’t cost that much and would keep the Flyers in the hunt.