Dan Vladar rises in NHL Network’s early top-10 goaltender rankings ahead of 2026-27

NHL Network’s annual positional rankings for the 2026-27 season continued its rollout with a notable move in the goaltending group. Former Calgary Flames goalie Dan Vladar has cracked the network’s top 10, landing at No. 8 after what the ranking described as a breakout season with the Philadelphia Flyers.

The timing matters because these positional lists are released in stages, starting with other positions before goaltenders. In the installments NHL Network had posted earlier in the sequence, Calgary did not show up anywhere in the defense or right wing rankings, setting up a sharper contrast once the goaltenders were revealed. Vladar was the name that delivered the only Flames connection in the material published thus far in the series.

Vladar’s climb to the No. 8 spot is a direct reflection of how NHL evaluators viewed his performance last season. The ranking framed the year as a breakout, a label that typically indicates a meaningful jump in execution and results relative to prior seasons, rather than a minor adjustment.

For Vladar, the placement also functions as a public validation of the path from being an organization’s option to earning a clearer reputation around the league. In a sport where stability can be as important as peak play, a top-10 ranking by a major hockey media outlet indicates that his role and impact were trending in the right direction during the most recent season.

The NHL Network rankings are positional, not team-based. That means a single player’s appearance does not automatically translate to a broader roster story for the Calgary Flames. Still, it suggests that talent associated with Calgary’s recent goaltending pipeline can be recognized at a higher tier than the team’s other positional representation in the early waves of the list.

What to watch next is whether Calgary’s lack of representation earlier in the ranking series holds through the rest of the positional reveals. If additional Flames players appear in later categories, it would reshape how the league views the team’s collective depth heading into the 2026-27 season.

As with any preseason ranking sequence released before training camps, these lists are best treated as a snapshot of expectations and past performance rather than a promise of what will happen next. Vladar’s No. 8 ranking sets the baseline, but the next step will be whether he sustains the level implied by the breakout framing as the Flyers and the rest of the league move into a new season.