In yet another twist in the most confusing and interesting “slow” offseason, Alexei Kolosov has seemingly had a change of heart and is en route to Flyers training camp. Kevin Weekes, along with other insiders, reported early this morning that Kolosov is coming to North America. Most are saying that the problems have all been resolved and that Kolosov is happy to be coming to Philly after a whole summer of Kolosov not coming over and indicating his desire not to.
Some are not as sure that Kolosov intends to stay in Philly long term with some noting Kolosov does have an out to sign in the KHL if he makes the AHL squad which is likely unless the Flyers go with three goalies, but more on that later. There is some speculation that Kolosov will try to tank camp so he gets sent to Lehigh Valley and then goes back to the KHL and signs a deal with Minsk. Minsk’s starter is injured, but is expected back in December or January, so at best he skips out on playing North America for a couple months of starting for a team unwilling to sign him before.
The Flyers refused to loan him to the KHL, and if Minsk wasn’t willing to double-cross the Flyers (for whatever reason) then there’s not much choice Kolosov has when it comes to playing that to report to Philadelphia.
Of course, an easier way to resolve this all would be to trade him, which some believe could be the case. The Flyers did say that a second round pick was the price for Kolosov. Whether or not a deal has been made is unknown, but it wouldn’t be completely out of the question that a trade is agreed upon once Kolosov shows up in North America and is fit to play. This feels less likely since this is mostly speculation from fans, but still a possibility.
What does this mean for the Flyers and their goaltending room? You’ve effectively boxed out Cal Petersen. Just days ago, the Flyers signed Eetu Makiniemi, a 25-year-old Finnish goalie, after bringing him in for a professional tryout (PTO). This set the tandems as Samuel Ersson and Ivan Fedotov in the NHL with Makiniemi and Petersen backing the Phantoms. With Kolosov in play, there are two ways the Flyers could handle this.
First, the Flyers could run with three goalies this season. The Flyers did that last year after Hart left the team using Ersson, Sandström, and Petersen at different points through the last three months of the season and plenty of other teams have done it in the past as well. Depending on how Kolosov looks when he gets to camp, he could put himself close enough to Fedotov that they give him more looks. The other thing they could do is send him to the AHL and hope he stays and is the starter for the Phantoms being given any chance to get NHL games. This would leave an NHL tandem of Ersson/Fedotov and an AHL tandem of Kolosov/Makiniemi with Petersen as the third goalie in Lehigh. This will give Kolosov consistent starts with the best opportunity to get first dibs on NHL games.
While there is a lot to speculate, it could just be that this story finally ended and the two sides have come to resolve whatever issue there was and Kolosov will play for the Flyers organization. Kolosov will obviously be unavailable for tonight’s preseason game, but there are four more, with the last on Oct 3.
By Noah Caplan (@Phlyers24)
Photo creds: The Hockey News
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