Philadelphia Flyers
When Will Alexei Kolosov Make Flyers Debut?
The Philadelphia Flyers have only three preseason games remaining, including an away back-to-back against the Bruins and Islanders on Monday and Tuesday. This means that, realistically, Alexei Kolosov, who arrived late to training camp, has two preseason games at most to try to make an impression and fight for an NHL roster spot.
Incumbent starter Sam Ersson played the full 60 minutes against the Islanders in a 1-0, 37-save shutout win on Thursday, while Ivan Fedotov played 63:52 in Saturday’s 3-2 overtime win over the Bruins.
Unless John Tortorella and Flyers goalie coach Kim Dillabaugh are planning to give Ersson one last tune-up before the start of the regular season, it looks like the last three preseason games to some combination of Fedotov, Kolosov, and Cal Petersen, especially now that Eetu Makinemi was assigned to the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Sunday morning.
In the event that Ersson and Fedotov are done for the preseason, it seems likely that Kolosov would play in two of the Flyers’ final three exhibition games. Playing on Monday against the Islanders and Thursday against the New Jersey Devils would give Kolosov the experience of playing one away game, and one home game in front of the Flyers faithful at Wells Fargo Center for the first time.
And, because the Devils left on Sunday ahead of the 2024 Global Series in Prague, that game would present a soft matchup for the Flyers and give Kolosov the perfect opportunity to get his feet wet and garner more experience against NHL (well, AHL) competition.
It is, of course, possible that Petersen or the others play a game, but the Flyers have made it clear after signing Makiniemi that Petersen is no longer a priority and does not have a future in the organization.
Therefore, the former Los Angeles Kings goalie will not take valuable minutes away from Kolosov or any of the other Flyers goalies.
Thursday’s game against New Jersey at Wells Fargo Center seems like a given, but it remains to be seen whether Kolosov’s Flyers debut will come before that.
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Seems like there are two different scenarios, with both of them giving Kolosov the Monday away start and the Thursday home start. The only difference would be if they decide to start the human sieve, Cal Petersen on Tuesday or make it a split game between Ersson and Fedotov.
With Makiniemi assigned to the Phantoms, does Kolosov go there and Petersen goes to Reading and or does Kolosov stay with the big club? Can’t see him being loaned back to the KHL. Reluctantly I could see him being traded first, but wouldn’t want it to turn into a Bob 2 situation.
Someone has to go….four goalies cannot simultaneously thrive on a NHL team. And all four of Ersson, Fodotov, Maki and Kolosov are NHL caliber goalies. Bruins did the smart thing with Ullmark….one reason why they are perennial contenders…they do not hesitate, think two steps ahead and make a move.
First of all Maki has been assigned to the Phantoms so he is fourth in the pecking order. And with Swayman refusing to accept 8 million per year over 8 years, the Bruins have made a mistake by not signing him first before trading Ullmark.
The Flyers know what they have in Ersson, they don’t know what they have in Kolosov and Fedotov regarding the smaller rink and the NHL game. It would be foolish to arbitrarily trade one of them before knowing exactly how good they are and how they adapt or not adapt to the North American game.
Fodotov does have a little more KHL experience-164 GP, and also the age factor-27 vs 22, than Kolosov-132 GP in the KHL…and IMO the KHL is second to the NHL in overall skill level and competitiveness. But agree…..let them all play it out and then see before making any trades.
But if Kolosov bulks at going down to the AHL if he is rusty in tonite’s pre-season game and his next start, then there is a concern they will need to address. Then again Fodotov could make the team then be below par as the back up when he gets to play.
As for Bruins…they will sign Swayman.
Bruins are from perennial contenders . Since chara left there is NO BaCKSTOP. There is no centers and Marchand is old and past Stanley cup usefulness at this point as sniper .
since chara left , not a Stanley cup contender . Your lost on how things REALLY work . You need t be able to break down the teams better .
Bruins time was 2009-2020. And they only got one cup since they have been missing KEY parts since 2015. So really a contender from 2009-2015
2019 was a joke too aginst blues . They lost . 1st and 2nd is miles apart . Weren’t built correctly like 2010 flyers . I’m not a silver medalist
If he didn’t want to play for the flyers or any NHL team then why did decide to do it
Sewell NJ native and former Flyer defenseman Tony DeAngelo is playing with SKA St Petersburg in the KHL…scored a goal the other night.
Find Petersen a job in Allentown on the PPL Center cleaning staff