There’s no denying that Aleksei Kolosov can turn into a great goaltender down the road. However, the Philadelphia Flyers have to take the gamble of sending him back to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in an attempt to ameliorate his development.
The Flyers’ goaltending situation has remained problematic as they rank last or near the bottom of nearly every statistical category relating to goaltenders, goals against, and/or save percentage. While Samuel Ersson’s play has left a lot to be desired, Kolosov has done very little to back him up and his usage in recent weeks has become a real head scratcher.
The “deadline” that loomed over the Flyers’ head heading into the season essentially forced their hands into giving the inexperienced goaltender NHL-playing time. While Ivan Fedotov struggled as well, there’s almost no reason that he should have been riding the pine for as long as he has, especially when it seemed like he was finally turning a corner.
The Kolosov situation was fluid for a few years until things deteriorated within months. By the sounds of things and based on what unfolded, Kolosov was unhappy with the lack of playing time upon his arrival to the Phantoms and wanted a fast-track to the NHL.
The Phantoms were in the thick of a playoff run last season with Cal Petersen leading the charge in goal, which didn’t allow Kolosov to get as much game action as he had hoped with the postseason right around the corner. It was always going to be his crease to win heading into 2024-25 but things changed on a whim when he decided to skip training camp.
Kolosov was even practicing in Minsk, where he was born, raised, and spent his KHL career. He eventually made his way back to North America but perhaps with a deal in place, where the Flyers were essentially given an ultimatum. It was reported by Elliotte Friedman in the early stages of the season that the Flyers had until a publicly unknown yet certain date to make a decision on the goaltender.
There wasn’t much detail into this “decision”, but the Flyers changed their stance from the summer, where they would have been okay with sending him back to Minsk for further development. That more or less explains the weird three-headed goaltending carousel at the NHL-level, John Tortorella opening up about his goaltending hierarchy, and the Belarusian netminder getting a lot more run than Fedotov.
Outside of a three-game winning streak between the 23rd and the 30th of November, Kolosov has been shaky at best. Since his last victory against the St. Louis Blues on the final day in November, Kolosov has gone 1-4-1 while allowing 25 goals on 163 shots – a GAA over 3.50 and a SV% of .847.
Within that 8-game stretch, he’s started in 6 of them and allowed 4+ goals in 5 of those starts. The only start he allowed less than 4 goals came against Detroit when he stopped 25 of 26 shots. He’s also made 2 relief appearances, including a 7-3 drubbing against the Pittsburgh Penguins and the shared 4-0 shutout against the San Jose Sharks.
Thursday’s contest against the Vegas Golden Knights was a prime example of why he’s not quite ready to make the leap from the KHL to the NHL in short order.
While the first goal had more so to do with a defensive breakdown from both Egor Zamula and Rasmus Ristolainen, Kolosov did very little to help his club stay alive against one of the best teams in the NHL.
On the second goal and just 82 seconds after Mark Stone had tied the game, Nicolas Hague beat Kolosov on a wraparound with the Belarusian very slow to react. The Flyers coughed up the puck in their own zone but Kolosov went down way too early and wasn’t able to get to the other side of the post in time on the wraparound attempt.
Then near the end of the second period after the Knights had won an offensive zone draw, Pavel Dorofeyev ripped a hard shot from the faceoff dot through the arm of the goaltender for a back-breaking goal. Kolosov was leaning towards his right and was not ready for the shot whatsoever as Dorofeyev went the other way, much to Kolosov’s surprise.
The icing on the cake came less than 3 minutes into the third after Alexander Holtz fired a seemingly harmless shot high-glove from the faceoff dot past Kolosov. He was beaten fairly easy on a shot from distance that should have been stopped and it continued the trend of allowing weak goals at inopportune times, which in turn sinks the team’s chances of winning.
The Flyers don’t need two goalies to be in the bottom-10 of goals saved above expected, goals saved above expected per 60, save percentage on unblocked shots, xSave percentage on unblocked shots, save percentage above expected, wins above replacement, and low-danger save percentage.
Running with Ersson and Fedotov won’t make any waves, but it’ll either be the same or slightly better which won’t give you any reason to second guess the decision. It also helps Kolosov develop his game further while giving him time to regain his confidence.
His play in the NHL is nowhere near reminiscent of how he played in the KHL. He looks to be a step or two behind, he falls to the butterfly too quickly, and he hasn’t adjusted to the speed of the game. Kolosov gets beaten easily through traffic and screens, which are all things he can work on elsewhere.
He remains a bright prospect as he just turned 23 years old, but there’s no positives, pros, or benefits to him being in the NHL at this very moment – or sitting Fedotov for well over a month.
Once Ersson comes back from his lower-body injury, the Flyers should roll the dice and see what happens after he gets sent down, while also giving Fedotov a fair shake after signing him to a 2-year deal worth $3.25 million per season.
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