"He'll be ready": Flames expect Vladar to be healthy by training camp

Calgary Flames goaltender Dan Vladar is improving since undergoing season-ending hip surgery in late March.

Flames director of goaltending Jordan Sigalet joined Sportsnet 960’s Flames Talk with Pat Steinberg to discuss the health of the 26-year-old. He admitted that it will be a long recovery, but as of now, it sounds like things are going swimmingly.

“He’s doing well, went to New York to get the surgery done and you see him walking around now feeling good,” Sigalet said. “It’s going to be a little bit of a long process for the rehab, just to get all the motion back and the range back. The nice part about doing it now is that he’s got time, he doesn’t have to rush it. He’ll be ready for training camp this coming season.”

With Vladar sidelined, Dustin Wolf has seen his largest stretch of playing time at the NHL level as he looks to show management and coaching staff that he is deserving of a full-time spot next season. In 16 games, the 23-year-old has a 3.30 goals against average (GAA) paired with a .891 save percentage (SV%).

There are several different options the Flames could go in terms of goaltending next season. The possibility remains that they wind up trading Jacob Markstrom this summer, which would likely result in a Wolf/Vladar tandem for the 2024-25 campaign.

If they elect to hold onto Markstrom, they will have a trickier decision to make. Wolf won’t require waivers, meaning the Flames could enter next season with the same goaltending duo yet again. That said, that move would run the risk of hurting their relationship with Wolf, which they certainly don’t want to do.

Instead, they could look to place Vladar and his $2.2 million cap hit on waivers in hopes of having him play in the American Hockey League (AHL).

The chances of Vladar getting scooped off waivers are seemingly slim. Not only will he be coming off of a major surgery, but he has mostly struggled in each of the past two seasons. In 20 appearances in 2023-24, he had a 3.62 GAA paired with a .882 SV%.

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