Flyers Prospects
Flyers Did Not Leave Alexei Kolosov In a Hotel for a Month
According to a report, top goalie prospect Alexei Kolosov told the Philadelphia Flyers he did not wish to return to North America after the club saddled him in a hotel in Allentown, Pennsylvania, for a month during the Belarusian’s AHL stint with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Kolosov, 22, finished the 2023-24 KHL season with Dinamo Minsk on loan from the Flyers, appearing in his last KHL postseason game on March 12. One month later, on April 12, Kolosov was on the bench for the Phantoms for his first AHL game.
Editor’s Note: Philly Hockey Now can confirm that the attached report from Tony Androckitis is false.
The Flyers’ top goalie prospect watched on as journeyman Cal Petersen and Felix Sandstrom mostly controlled the crease in Lehigh Valley; Kolosov played in only two games– a 5-4 win over the Bridgeport Islanders on April 13 and a 2-0 loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on April 20. Kolosov did not appear in any of the Phantoms’ Calder Cup playoff games.
Per AHL source, Alexei Kolosov told #Flyers at the end of his stint w/ Lehigh Valley he did not want to return
"They put him in the hotel by himself & he felt isolated, especially since his English isn’t great"
Explains the AHL deals for Gahagen & Petruzzelli. @InsideAHLHockey
— Tony Androckitis* (@TonyAndrock) July 27, 2024
Inside the AHL‘s Tony Androckitis reported Saturday morning that a source claimed,” (The Flyers) put him in the hotel by himself and he felt isolated, especially since his English isn’t great.” Keep in mind that Kolosov, drafted 78th overall by the Flyers in the 2021 NHL Draft, has spent his entire career in Belarus up to this point and was teammates with anyone in Lehigh Valley who he could communicate with at a meaningful level.
That would be an incredibly short-sighted move on the Flyers’ behalf, especially considering how Ivan Fedotov joined the NHL ranks in early April in a massive surprise to everyone. Fedotov had Egor Zamula and perhaps Slava Kuznetsov to lean on, and now Matvei Michkov is joining the fold as well.
Was Kolosov not as important to the Flyers that they could not further accommodate him for only a few weeks?
Flyers general manager Danny Briere seemed to hint at such a mistake in a June Q&A with Philly Hockey Now, telling us, “I’m sure the loneliness, it makes for long days. We didn’t have any other Russian-speaking players (in Lehigh Valley), you know? He didn’t have his friends, his family, or his girlfriend with him,” and that “. . . we’re learning along the way, too. We realize it was a tough situation for him.”
Now that Kolosov passed on attending the Flyers’ annual development camp early in July, it seems like his status for the upcoming season is truly up in the air, and a return to the AHL has been completely ruled out. The young goalie and his girlfriend both still follow the Flyers on Instagram, so the situation might not be in dire straits just yet.
That all said, the Flyers seem to be in the red now and potentially find themselves in danger of losing their best goalie prospect over a silly and preventable mistake.
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This is why there needs to be HUGE changes in Lehigh Valley. How does the AHL coaching staff and management there let this happen? Hell, how does the big club in Philly let this happen?
I live in Allentown. In many ways it’s a small town (in good ways) but I have no doubt they could have found SOMEONE in the city (pop. 120,000; or the Greater Lehigh Valley (pop 500,000+) who could have talked with him in his own language in person.
And if not that, NOBODY in the organization thought to at least have someone from Philly checking in on him? In an era of Face-Time calls and Zoom meetings? That’s inexcusable!
I’d imagine that the same thing (homesickness) even happens to Canadian and American kids, albeit to a lesser extent because they know the language. But are they just letting the prospects at their top-level farm team just fend for themselves when they’re away from the rink? How about some (voluntary) team excursions to kill some downtime when they’re back in Allentown?
After reading this I have to wonder what others have said about their time in the Flyers farm system. Could this be part of the reason that Gauthier wouldn’t sign with the Flyers or why Michkov’s people insisted he went directly to the big club and not to the AHL?
This isn’t 40 years ago. If the Flyers are going to compete for top end prospects and expect to “season” them at the AHL level, they also better be ready to cater to their top-end prospects a bit, especially the foreign ones.
I hear a lot of talk about a “New Era of Orange”, but what’s more important than taking care of your players? The Flyers get a grade of F- for this error!
If the rumors are true I’m shocked. If it was the way that’s been stated I can understand why he wouldn’t want to come back. I wouldn’t. For the Flyers to do that is a disgrace. The best we can hope for is the Flyers use his contact as leverage to bring him back and treat him with respect and show him tons of love to keep him. Hanging out with Michkov would go along way with the homesick blues. But the higher ups need to make sure it doesn’t happen again!!!!
Not a good story (actually hard to believe) and just opens old wounds for all the fans that want to believe in the new Flyers management. All the staggering mistakes made by old management over the years is truly demoralizing. Cutter Gautier may be an ego maniac but something real wrong with that story. Lots of managers and coaches on the payroll. No one thought to look after a young guy alone from a foreign country? I don’t get it.
The more you learn about this management, the more moves they make, the worse they look. It’s not a coincidence guys. No one wants to see the writing of the wall here. This organization did NOT/IS NOT getting the rebuild it needs. And DOES NOT have the leadership in the office that it needs.
CLEARLY!!!
Absolutely true, Briere is souring really quick with smug face. He’s overmatched right now , have him rebuild is getting painful don’t think he has a clue.
Sadly I’m not the least bit surprised.
Phantoms in the midst and near the end of a play-off race……just slipped thru the cracks…..better he plays in the KHL anyways….if he is that great, he becomes an attractive trade candidate.
He didn’t slip through the cracks. The organization is run like a “mom and pop shop”. It’s not rocket science, it’s simple business 101…..I have employees who live in the Philippines and I bring then over once a year with their families and make a big deal out of it to make sure they feel like there part of something (because they are).
It’s not difficult at all and my company is small (50 employees).
This whole story stinks. This isn’t a mistake it reaks of complete incompetence from leadership. Smh
We do not know the whole story…always two sides..so far we are getting one side of the story.
Seems like DB confirmed it
I really thought the Islanders were a 3rd rate organization, but the Flyers are even worse!!
Talk about clueless!! You bring the guy in speaking virtually no English, dump him in a hotel- alone, and then don’t play him anyway!!!
At the very least he should have had an interpreter to pal around with for a month!!
This club is just an incompetent mess!!!
This exactly why Cutter wanted nothing to do with the Flyers organization!
You’re right , he is arrogant, but this mess in Philadelphia has to have every player wondering
Third hand & anonymous sources? Just can’t help yourself, can you! Didn’t they teach you about verifying your sources before going to print in journalism class? This piece makes you look like a gossip column…do better!
Apparently you MISSED the part in the story where Jon effectively confirmed the story through Daniel Briere’s own words in the exclusive interview. Before insulting, please read.
Where is that in the story? What interview with DB? I don’t see it.
Never mind. I see it now. Maybe Clarke, like me, did not see that the article continues under an ad.
I guess you one of the few people who still believe it was Eric Lindross fault and not Flyers management (mostly Clarke) for the relationship falling apart…..yeah blame the young Superstart Franchise changing once in a 20 year talent…..smh
The Flyers organization STINKS…..
Remember this: 1. Missed the playoffs AGAIN. 2. Have ZERO salary cap available AGAIN. 3. Have ZERO NHL top 25 players AGAIN.
Can’t win this way…..
Sounds about right stick a kid from another country in a dump and tell him to figure it out. When American kids his age cant figure out how to function.
Ouch . I’m as mad long term as anyone here . But since Chuck took over and cleaned the deck and retooled the foundation I have liked what’s going on here . I like tons of the players flahr and Chuck drafted . I like the trades of risto and Tippett
im giving Briere the benefit of any doubt after Chuck cleared the deck and played the bad guy .
I hope we didn’t step back . I have no real complaints last few years for our rebuild . Im willing to seperate the failures of Bobby Clarke and Ron hextall and the rest of the front office most of last 40 years since mid 80s from Jones and Briere . I will be the first one to call them out if we don’t get a center and power wing and do it right including stuff like this
Our GM seems to be a moron.
Definitely threatening to be worst GM in league, smug Danny
Another rumor where the Flyers treat prospects like crap… It’s no wonder people don’t want to play in Philly lol
You are on your way to being a competent beat reporter Jonathan, but this article which you based off of a Tweet was definitely a big time miss. There should be a more informed retraction written. For those of you that want to do some research. Several other blogs have totally debunked the validity of this article. Even Tony Androckitis who is cited in this article gave the author push back.
Appreciate the kind words! Yes, I did miss big time. Valid criticism, and I own that and move forward better than I was before. Addressed it in a number of tweets on my twitter account and also Bailey’s Daily on Monday AM. Already cleared the air with the Flyers, too.