The injuries continue to take their toll on the Philadelphia Flyers as they announced that goaltender Samuel Ersson was placed on IR with a lower-body issue and defenseman Emil Andrae is sidelined with a mid-body injury. In his stead, the club recalled defenseman Helge Grans from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on an emergency basis.
Ivan Fedotov has started the last two games and three of the last four with Ersson back on the mend. The club officially announced that he would miss the next 1-2 weeks with the same injury that kept him out of the lineup earlier in the month.
The Swedish goaltender is 5-2-2 on the season with a much improved .902 SV% and 2.70 GAA in large part because of his recent 6-game stretch where he posted a 4-0-1 record with a .915 SV% and 1 shutout. Fedotov has seemingly turned a corner after a rough start to his season and has claimed three straight victories, while allowing just 7 goals on 85 shots in this recent stretch.
The Flyers announced that Aleksei Kolosov earned the start tonight against Colorado. It will be his first start and game action since the 5th of November when he allowed 5 goal on 34 shots against Carolina. He will be vying for his first career NHL victory as he sports a 3.92 GAA and a .863 SV% with an 0-3-0 record.
As for Andrae, he’s performed admirably since his recent call-up and was even playing alongside Travis Sanheim on the top pair. The Flyers remain mum about his situation, labelling it as just a mid-body injury, however there are rumours that it could be an extended absence. He has 3 assists in 10 games, a +1 rating, 18:27 ATOI, and 13 blocked shots to 15 hits.
Grans, on the other hand, received his first recall to the NHL from the Flyers after he was acquired in the summer of 2023 in the Ivan Provorov trade. The 6’3”, 205-pound, right-shot defenseman was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft by the Los Angeles Kings, and after a few years in their minor league system he was dealt as part of the three-team trade.
With the Ontario Reign he recorded 9 goals and 36 points in 115 games before adding 1 goal and 8 points in 56 games for the Phantoms last year, and another goal and 2 assists this year in 14 contests. With Cam York and Jamie Drysdale still on IR, Grans will slide into his first career NHL contest on Monday night.
The Flyers continue their homestand as they play host to Colorado on Monday, Carolina on Wednesday, Chicago on Saturday, and finish it off with Vegas next Monday.
