Dave Isaac

@davegisaac

VOORHEES — Free agency can be a tricky situation for a team when it knows it has to re-sign a player that is an integral part of the puzzle.

With their goaltending situation, Flyers general manager Ron Hextall may be in the polar opposite.

Both Michal Neuvirth and Steve Mason are entering the last year of their respective contracts and are seemingly playing for the starting job in the 2017-18 season.

“There could be,” Hextall said. “Maybe we sign them both. I can’t predict. They’re both very good goalies. They both proved it last year. They both should be in their prime/entering their prime. We’re excited about both of them and essentially don’t have a fixed plan moving forward.”

Hextall said he has no plans to negotiate new deals with either Mason or Neuvirth at this point. He clarified remarks earlier this year that suggested he wanted to go the whole season without talking about deals.

“We’re just going to play this season and see how things go,” Hextall said. “That doesn’t mean at some point…I don’t want to say something because I don’t know right now. We know they’re both really good goalies.”

FAN GUIDE: Flyers in World Cup

In their last campaign the split wasn’t exactly a clear-cut situation of who was the starter and who was the backup.

Mason played in 54 games to Neuvirth’s 32, but the latter had better numbers. Neuvirth, who is playing for a starting job for the Czech Republic team in the World Cup of Hockey, had a 2.27 goals-against average and .924 save percentage. Both were career-best figures.

There seems to be either a science or an incredibly large coincidence for players performing well in contract years so the Flyers could be in for some good competition between the pipes this season.

“It happens quite often,” Mason said. “There is the extra motivation to prolong your career. There’s a lot at stake. I’ve been here for four full years now and it’s been a lot of fun. It’s up to me for it to continue.”

There’s a twist to the Flyers’ plans, too.

They’ll have to make a decision by June 17, 2017 on which goalie they will have on their protected list, making him exempt from the expansion Las Vegas team selecting him. The options are Mason, Neuvirth and (maybe) third-year pro Jackson native Anthony Stolarz.

Because of the expansion draft rules, the Flyers have to leave one goalie unprotected who is under contract for the 2017-18 season or a restricted free agent heading into that campaign and has at least two years of pro experience. Stolarz is the only candidate for that unless the Flyers re-sign one of Mason or Neuvirth.

If Neuvirth improves from his career season last year, he’d be due a hefty raise from his $1.75 million salary this season. Mason, at a $4.1 million salary-cap hit, is probably about right for a starting goalie who isn’t in the top five in statistics. If the Flyers decide to let one of them walk, Stolarz may be ready for back-up duty in 2017-18 after being an American Hockey League All-Star last season.

How much the Flyers spend on goaltending next season will be dictated by how the current duo plays this time around.

“Internal competition is always good. It really is,” Hextall said.

“To go into it where we’re comfortable with both guys taking a big load of the season, it’s huge for us. You see what happens around the league. Guys get hurt. Guys have down periods. When you have two guys that are both capable of being No. 1’s they can actually pick each other up. You hope there is a little bit of drive from within to keep the net. It’s a good situation for us and it’s something that we certainly feel comfortable with and I believe both our goalies do as well.”

Neuvirth is seemingly happy with the situation and was in town early to work out with Flyers teammates before the World Cup. Mason, now around to do the same, seems fine with the scenario also.

“Ideally you want to have a contract longer than one year, but at the same time it’s a great opportunity to see who’s standing at the end of the year, so to speak,” Mason said. “We understand what the situation is here. Would I love to be back here long-term? Absolutely. At the end of the day, it’s up to me. I believe if I just focus on the small things, focus on my job and nobody else’s, can’t let the outside noises or anything else effect me. I think it’s going to be a pretty focused year overall and at the end of the day hopefully I’m here.”

Dave Isaac; (856) 486-2479;disaac@gannettnj.com.