Dan Vladař ‘looked good’ in Flyers’ practice and is on track to play in season opener

Breathe a sigh of relief, Philly.

In less than 72 hours, the puck will drop on the Flyers’ 2026-27 season, and all signs are pointing to goalie and reigning MVP Dan Vladař being ready to go.

After spending almost an hour on the ice Saturday during the team’s optional skate, Vladař was a full participant in Sunday’s practice.

“I wouldn’t say he’s 100%, but he’s very hopeful,” coach Rick Tocchet said.

“Pretty spirited practice, and he made it through; he seemed like he looked good to me,” he added. “So we’ll see — We’ve got [65] hours, so we’ll see.”

If you needed another sign that Vladař is ready, the Flyers loaned Aleksei Kolosov to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Sunday.

“It looks very promising. [Vladař] should be ready for Game 1,” said general manager Danny Brière during Saturday’s preseason finale.

“Probably could have played if we had played a regular-season [game] tonight, but we just want to play it safe and let him get as close to 100% for the start of the regular season.”

Vladař’s status for the lid lifter on Wednesday at Xfinity Mobile Arena against the Penguins (7:30 p.m., TNT, truTV) was more uncertain after last Tuesday’s preseason game in Boston. The 29-year-old goaltender left in the first period after allowing a deflection goal by Michael Eyssimont.

Before Eyssimont scored, Vladař had mishandled a dump-in and was spread down with his arms extended on the ice when Tanner Jeannot crashed the net for the rebound. It didn’t look like there was significant contact between Jeannot’s leg and Vladař on the play, but the netminder let go of his stick immediately and appeared to be holding his right arm before Eyssimont scored.

The Czech goalie did not see any other preseason action and is still technically day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

The Flyers power play is expected to get some runway this season, giving them time to gel and build trust. However, there was already a tinker on Sunday: Cam York was on the second power-play unit in place of David Jiříček.

Tocchet tried to deflect, saying it’s all part of the process of building up the power play, but Brière said after the first intermission on Saturday that Jiříček “played OK” thus far. That was before he was on the ice for two goals against, the second coming off a direct turnover in the defensive zone by him.

He had a Flyers’ worst minus-5 in the preseason.

» READ MORE: Jamie Drysdale’s goal a highlight in an otherwise forgettable preseason finale for Flyers

“We’re trying to figure out a few things,” Tocchet said. “When you put power plays together, you’ve got to try different things, experiment, and then there’s people trying to get spots. So that can amp a power play into getting better, is when there’s competition.”

Tocchet stressed that Jiříček and Jamie Drysdale, who is on the first power-play, are in the mix with York but noted that “Yorkie looked pretty good,” and “he was one of the better guys of moving the puck.”

York famously didn’t get a real chance to play the power play under former coach John Tortorella despite being a key cog on the man advantage at the U.S. National Team Development Program and the University of Michigan. Looking forward to the opportunity last season under a new coaching staff, he started on the power play, linking up with Trevor Zegras several times, but as the season wore on his time dwindled.

Tocchet said a main reason for the drop was that York was also penalty killing and playing big minutes at five-on-five. He wasn’t sure that they wanted York to play all these minutes. The bench boss did notice the work the Californian put into his shot over the summer.

» READ MORE: Flyers defenseman Cam York looking to build on strong foundation: ‘Offensively, there’s a lot there for me still’

The blueliner told The Inquirer on Tuesday that he worked on his footwork and hands, while also building his upper-body strength in the gym this summer. “I want to have five shots a game, if possible,” he added.

“Love it,” Tocchet said when told that was York’s goal.

So does the coach see a difference in the 25-year-old’s game?

“It’s the footwork,” Tocchet said. “His attacking, and he’s not deferring. Like I felt a lot of our D would, they get the middle, there’s shots to be taken, but for whatever reason they would defer to the flankers to the [guys out] wide.

“He just said five shots, right? Hopefully other guys are thinking the same way. If you do that, then all of a sudden, say you’re getting 25 shots a game, we’re getting 31, and now some action can happen. So, I think he’s just listening from the coaches over the summer [about] what we want. We need more shots and shots on net. ... So I’m glad the Yorkie’s saying that.”

Tocchet provided an update on forwards Denver Barkey and Nikita Grebenkin on Sunday, after neither player was on the ice for practice. “They’re both kind of day-to-day,” he said. “Barks is getting a little bit better every day, and Grebby, a little banged up after last game, is working on a couple of little things.” He said Grebenkin’s current injury is not related to the upper-body injury he sustained in March that kept him out of the lineup for the rest of the season. ... The Flyers announced the signing of Garrett Wilson to a one-year, two-way contract with an average annual value of $850,000. Wilson, named the Flyers’ nomination for the 2026 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy by the Philadelphia chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, was signed to a two-way contract for the remainder of last season in March. He was originally under an AHL-only deal for this season.