Carchidi: Flyers GM Hopeful Top Goalie Prospect Will be at Camp

Alexei Kolosov is arguably the Flyers’ best goalie prospect, so alarms went off among Philly fans when an AHL reporter tweeted recently that the 22-year-old netminder said he did not want to return to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Veteran reporter Tony Androckitis said on X that an AHL source told him Kolosov informed the Flyers he was not returning. Philadelphia Flyers general manager Danny Briere said that was untrue. That said, he doesn’t have a guarantee that the goalie will be back.

The source also told Androckitis the Flyers put Kolosov “in a hotel by himself and he felt isolated, especially since his English isn’t great.”

Briere was surprised by the report; he believes Kolosov, a Belarus native, will be back with the Phantoms when the 2024-25 season starts. He is expected to be the team’s No. 1 goalie.

‘Scary, But … ‘

“It’s real scary to hear all the rumors, but as far as we know, he’s coming back for camp in September,” Briere said in a phone interview Thursday.

The fact that there were no Russian or Belarusian players on the Phantoms wasn’t ideal for the 6-foot, 185-pound Kolosov, but Briere said the Flyers treated him well and “there were no surprises” for the goalie.

Kolosov spent most of last season with Minsk Dinamo in the KHL, then played two late-season games with the Phantoms.

Briere said the Flyers, aware that Kolosov might be feeling lonely, kept close tabs on him during his month with Lehigh Valley.

“When players come over (from Europe), we try to help them out,” Briere said. “We had all our development guys there. We had our goalie coach/development guy in Brady Robinson, who worked with him every single day. He was on the ice every day and had special attention from Brady, as well as all our development guys. Riley (Armstrong) and Nick Schultz were there on pretty much a daily basis and working with him.

“He was not left by himself, and we thought everything was going good.”

Chance to Get Acclimated

Briere said the Flyers told Kolosov they “wanted him to come over and play a few games. It had already been a long season for him. We weren’t going to expose him and put him in any bad position. We just wanted him to come over and see what it’s like to play over here, get acclimated, and get ready for next season. And he and his agent agreed to it and thought it was a great plan.

“The whole idea was for him to get better prepared to come into this season,” Briere said.

Kolosov, a third-round selection in the 2021 draft, has two years remaining on the entry-level deal he signed with the Flyers last summer. Getting out of that deal and playing in the KHL does not appear to be an option After signing a three-year, $2.78 million ELC last year, the Flyers agreed to loan Kolosov to the KHL last season, when the goalie had a 2.39 goals-against average and .907 save percentage with Minsk Dynamo in 47 regular-season games. He was even better in the playoffs: a 2.21 GAA and .925 save percentage in six games.

“We did him a favor by loaning him back for one year,” said Briere, whose organization is filled with high-end goalie prospects who have yet to reach the NHL.  “Now it’s time for him to develop here and hopefully he makes his way to the Flyers eventually.”

Briere has heard “rumblings” of Kolosov’s discontent, “but we don’t have any confirmation that he’s not coming back at this point.”

Doesn’t Understand the ‘Fuss’

“If he wants to play hockey, he has to come back over,” Briere said. “He’s under contract with us, so that’s why I don’t understand all the fuss. … I guess a Russian team could say they’re not going to honor the contract. But he’s under contract with the Flyers and that’s where he’s going to have to play if he wants to play hockey.”

As for the big-league team, Briere likes the fact that Sam Ersson, who is favored to be the Philadelphia Flyers’ No. 1 goalie this season, showed promise in his first full NHL season last year.

“When you look at goalies, they usually peak at 28 to 31 years old. So you take a guy like Ersson, who already has a full  season in the NHL under his belt, and he’s only 24,” Briere said. “That’s really exciting to me.”

It will be even more exciting if he is pushed for the job by Ivan Fedotov. And, someday, by Kolosov.

Sam Carchidi writes a weekly column for Philly Hockey Now. He and Jeff Hare are working on a TV series on the Flyers’ glory days, tentatively called “Bullies.” Carchidi can be reached at samcarchidi55@gmail.com.