Flyers Prospects
Flyers Roster Moves: Why Add Two More Goalies?
In recent weeks, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, AHL affiliates of the Philadelphia Flyers, re-signed goalie Parker Gahagen and added former Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Keith Petruzzelli on an AHL contract.
Between Gahagen, Petruzzelli, and Cal Petersen, the Phantoms have more options in goal than they can reasonably manage at once.
These signings have raised further questions about the status of top Flyers prospect Alexei Kolosov, who was recently included on the Flyers training camp roster but also changed agents as the organization eagerly awaits his arrival ahead of camp in September.
The problem, of course, is that Flyers general manager Danny Briere and the front office are still trying to find out whether Kolosov plans to return to North America from his native Belarus.
Figure that Petersen and one of Gahagen and Petruzzelli remain on the Phantoms. That leaves one goalie to join Vinnie Purpura in the ECHL with the Reading Royals as part of the platoon in net there.
Even without Kolosov, the Flyers have two goalies for each tier of the organization, as Sam Ersson and Ivan Fedotov are penciled in to hold down the fort at the NHL level.
And speaking of the NHL goaltending, that’s a big reason why the general public and legit betting sites such as BetMGM are down on the Flyers this year.
At the surface, the Flyers are at least covering their bases in the event that Kolosov does not return; that much is certain. What the organization plans to do with the other goaltenders if or when Kolosov does return is currently unclear.
It is worth noting further that Petruzzelli has played his best pro hockey at the ECHL level.
On the other hand, Gahagen went 10-4-0 with Reading last season, posting a .936 save percentage and one shutout, so that level of competition is a bit low for the former Army netminder. At the AHL level, the 31-year-old was 7-8-3 last season to go with a solid .914 save percentage.
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Perhaps Danny has seen what the Preds got for Askarov……a first round pick along with other pieces….and maybe he is dangling Kolosov out there to teams interested in upgrading their goalie positions…..Flames , Canes, and Les Habs are a few of the teams….Kolosov wants to play in the NHL right away…starter or back-up I assume…maybe Danny B can get a high draft pick for him……a 2nd rounder is certainly possible, a first rounder is probably slim to none pickens
Kolosov was not thrilled with playing in the AHL because it was a new country, nobody spoke his language and he was a fish out of water. His immaturity is causing him to want to stay and play in Minsk, where he’s comfortable. He has zero AHL experience and a second round pick would be a reach. Askarov played two years at the AHL level and did rather well, so that’s why he was able to fetch a first round pick.
If the Flyers wish to play hard ball they hold all of the cards. Kolosov signed his ELC, already burned a year and the best training ground is with the Phantoms. The best thing that the Flyers can do is get a Russian speaking player on the Phantoms otherwise Zamula won’t be the #8 DMan on the Flyers, he’ll be relegated to the Phantoms if Kolosov indeed plays there.
KHL is better than the AHL
I’m certainly not the one to ask about guys that are not in league . The young guys .
cal Petersen is another throw in to eat salary as a favor in my opinion like Johansson .
the cal Petersen was a favor for the Provorov dump as well. So kings could be A playoff team while drew doughty still has wheels . I do think that Hans grans is interesting . Could be 4 years away . But that’s what I liked about that trade at time and the pick .
my point is cal Petersen should just get dumped and let the young guys battle .
if all our young guys fail , we can get hellebuckye or binnington for our cup in 3 years
“Hans grans is interesting”??????
Do you mean LHV 22-year old d-man Helge Grans who came over from the Kings-a high 2nd round pick by the Kings-35th pick overall….if so he already has over 175 games AHL experience ..second half of this season should see him try to break thru to the NHL team.