It wouldn’t be a regular season without the Philadelphia Flyers having a goalie conundrum. While the club is supposedly knee-deep in a rebuild, there has been a lot of uncertainty in goal to start the season – so much so, that a decision is assuredly looming.
Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco posted an article earlier today headlining the notion that the Flyers could be shaking things up in short order. Elliotte Friedman made mention last week that the Flyers have an end-of-month decision on Alexei Kolosov and Ivan Fedotov’s play in goal is making things slightly more difficult than it has to be.
Now, Kolosov’s deadline isn’t a contractual one nor is it written in stone, however one has to imagine that it was definitely the key into luring him back to North America amidst his holdout during the offseason. A trade is certainly not off the table regarding Kolosov, but the Flyers seem more inclined into loaning him back to Minsk compared to their initial stance on the subject matter at the beginning of the summer.
There were a lot of question marks surrounding Fedotov before the season began but the hope was that he had acclimated to North America in time for the 2024-25 season. He had a tumultuous couple of years between 2022-23 and 2023-24 that included military service, returning to play for CSKA Moscow despite sanctions being levied by the IIHF, and then joining the Flyers when his contract was suddenly terminated at the end of the year.
His first two games this season have not aided the myriad of questions marks many had had about his game, especially his start against Seattle last week. Fedotov’s first start against Calgary was a bag of mixed tricks as some of the goals were due to power plays and defensive breakdowns but he also didn’t look comfortable in goal and appeared to be moving a lot slower than the average NHL goaltender.
Things went from bad to worse heading into his next start as he was pulled after 40 minutes with the Kraken scoring 4 goals in the second period, including 3 goals in less than 3 minutes to turn the tides and increase their lead to 5-2.
It is certainly very early to truly make a decision on Fedotov but things get a little dicier considering a decision seemingly has to be made on Kolosov within the next week and a half. Kolosov hasn’t had the greatest of starts to his season either as he sports a 3.06 GAA and a .878 SV% in two games but as Di Marco points out, he is expected to get both games this weekend for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in what is expected to be a showcase for the Belarusian’s prospects in the NHL.
It also seems very unlikely that the Flyers stick around with a 3-man rotation. Fedotov needs more seasoning and marination and he could get that in the AHL, while Kolosov is in a similar position where he needs playing time and a lot of it for the Flyers to know where things stand with their touted goaltending prospect. While Fedotov would have to clear waivers to report to the Phantoms, sources have told Di Marco that it’s unlikely a team puts a claim on the 3.25 million dollar Russian behemoth.
Still, you just never truly know, there are teams like Anaheim, Columbus, and Calgary that have over 18 million dollars in cap space right now and are knee-deep in a traditional rebuild. Adding Fedotov to their mix wouldn’t hurt their cap situations and all 3 teams are in need of goaltending depth with John Gibson out indefinitely with an appendectomy for Anaheim, Columbus not sold on Elvis Merzļikins, and the Flames potentially looking for a more suitable backup than Dan Vladař.
Fedotov has a great track record attached to his resume but he hasn’t been able to showcase any of that at the NHL-level. In 5 games split between 2023-24 and 2024-25, he’s allowed 20 goals on 108 shots for a paltry 5.46 GAA and a .815 SV% to go along with a 0-3-1 record.
He needs his confidence to be built back up and a stint with the Phantoms can do the trick. It just boils down to whether or not the Flyers are comfortable with placing him on waivers and then bringing up Kolosov, who could very well have the same issues as Fedotov.
Samuel Ersson needs help in the form of a reliable backup goaltender. We saw what he is capable of doing when he isn’t run into the ground and playing well over 90% of the games in a 3-4 month stretch. Cal Petersen and Felix Sandström couldn’t help out last year and it looks like Fedotov might be in the same boat this year. If Kolosov does the get call-up, stability is of the utmost importance to solidify the tandem.
Similarly to Fedotov, Kolosov has a great KHL-track record but it remains to be seen if he’s NHL-ready, despite his beliefs that he most definitely is. In 5 games at the AHL-level, Kolosov is 2-3-0 while allowing 15 goals on 126 shots, which has him in line with a 3.00 GAA and a .881 SV%.
The Flyers have two sets of back to backs this week with games against the Washington Capitals today and tomorrow and then home matchups against Minnesota and Montréal on the weekend. Fedotov will have 2 chances – more or less – to steer the ship and keep his NHL gig for the time being. One would have to imagine that if he stumbles once more, Kolosov’s recall is very likely to happen with his deadline looming.
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