While it was an inevitability that goalie Alexei Kolosov was not going to report to training camp this year, it was finally made official earlier Tuesday when the Philadelphia Flyers announced their training camp roster.
The summer-long saga has been bumpy to say the least but general manager Daniel Brière confirmed to the media today that Kolosov was looking for an NHL spot and should he not be guaranteed one, he would rather play in the KHL than the AHL.
Kolosov signed his entry-level contract last summer, meaning he is still under Flyers’ control for the next 2 seasons. The expectations are that the organization will toll his contract similarly to Ivan Fedotov when he ultimately signed with CKSA Moscow upon his release from military conscription while still under contract.
It seems like the cracks started to form when he reported to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms upon his arrival from Minsk at the end of March of this year. Cal Petersen was the de-facto number one goaltender and helped the Phantoms reach the postseason. Kolosov only appeared in 2 contests and didn’t see any ice-time during the playoffs, which seemingly didn’t rub him the right way.
Reports were swirling all summer from a variety of sources. A Belarusian news outlet came first when they said he was having difficulties acclimating to North America and how he was home sick as well. Then Inside AHL Hockey’s Tony Androckitis came out with a report that shone a damning light on the Flyers – if it were true – since it speculated that was he left isolated and to his own devices, which was rebuffed vehemently by the club.
A month later, The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reported that Kolosov would rather return to Dinamo Minsk, where he originally played in the KHL, on loan. He felt it would help with his development but it was not something that the Flyers were too keen on doing. They wanted him to stick in North America and play a full season with the Phantoms, where he was expected to get a lot of run.
Shortly after Kurz’s report, Kolosov was then seen practicing with Dinamo Minsk in the KHL, which was confirmed by Anthony Di Marco and Hockey News Hub. All expectations were that Kolosov was going to skip training camp and try to get a loan out to the KHL even though that was defying the Flyers’ wishes but more importantly their entry-level contract.
With Flyers Rookie Camp having come and gone and training camp set to open up shortly, Phantoms head coach and Flyers alumni Ian Laperrièrewas asked about Androckitis’ report from this past summer about Kolosov feeling isolated – from NBC Sporrs Philadelphia’s Jordan Hall’s recent article:
“I was as surprised as everybody behind [the Flyers’] doors when I read what I read,” Laperriere said Monday. “To be honest, like, maybe I’m the worst coach in the world, but I make people around me comfortable. I’m a friendly guy, you guys have known me for 15 years. It was weird to read the stuff. I don’t think it’s coming from the kid. Stuff gets translated, who said what. … I really don’t know what to believe with what’s out there because the kid never told us that.
“It’s frustrating because he looked really good in practice. He didn’t skate for three weeks or a month, so he had some catching up to do and we were in a playoff race and Cal Petersen played unbelievable down the stretch. It was a tough spot for him, but guys asked him to go out every night for dinner, he said no.
“I get it, he doesn’t speak English, so that’s got to be tough,” Laperrière said. “I know my English is not great now, but I didn’t speak English when I moved to Peoria (Illinois) when I was 20. So it’s part of pro hockey when you go from one country to the other, you’ve got to learn the language.”
Brière also had a few things to say about Kolosov’s situation, which was not all too surprising from the quotes gathered from Greg Wyshynski’s article on ESPN:
“It’s time for him to step up and respect the contract,” he said at Flyers rookie camp Tuesday.
“I guess we can still hope that he decides to show up if he wants to play hockey, but it’s not looking like it at this point,” Brière said. “It is what it is. We have to move on. We hoped that he would want to compete for a job.”
“When you look at the way we’re built right now, there’s an opportunity there for him,” he said.
“We agreed last year to loan him back for one year because he wanted to stay home, but at some point you sign a contract and we want him here,” he said. “We want him to start integrating himself to the way the game is played here in North America, with smaller ice, with learning the language and all of that. And I guess he doesn’t see it that way at the moment.”
“I get it, you might be homesick, but that’s the life of a professional hockey player. You’ve got to adapt if you want to play hockey. That’s just how it is,” Brière said.
For all intents and purposes, it looks like we won’t be seeing Kolosov this year with the Flyers or the Phantoms, unless something drastically changes with his mindset on playing in the minors. It’s unfortunate as well considering the fact that he has a legitimate chance at playing in the NHL at some point this season with the level of uneasiness that many have with the tandem of Fedotov and Samuel Ersson.
Injuries are always a possibility, inconsistent play could drive the Flyers to make a recall as well, but more pressing is getting used to the North American game. The ice is a different size, the game is a lot faster, the Xs and Os are different compared to what they’re doing in the KHL, and it’s not always easy to make the transition work unless you’re an Igor Shesterkin or an Ilya Sorokin.
The Flyers’ training camp roster includes Ersson, Fedotov, Petersen, Sam Hillebrandt, Eetu Mäkiniemi, and Carson Bjarnason. Bjarnason will assuredly be headed back to WHL Brandon, Mäkiniemi was signed to a PTO, and Hillebrandt was brought over as a camp invite after a good showing in Rookie Camp.
There aren’t many confident options behind Ersson and Fedotov this year, similarly to last year, and that could spell doom, especially with Kolosov potentially not being an option. Reasons remain unknown as to why he doesn’t want to report to the AHL but it sounds like he just wants a fast-track to the NHL.
Also something to note, Fedotov’s arrival came two days after Kolosov was granted permission to leave from Minsk, which was on nobody’s radar. Fedotov going straight to the NHL and then signing a 2-year deal probably didn’t rub Kolosov the right way, but there were a few reasons as to why the dominoes fell as they did.
As training camp gets underway and with the regular season just right around the corner, this will certainly be a story to continue to follow, but as things stand right now the Flyers remain firm that they don’t want to loan him to the KHL and that they hope he changes his mind.
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