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On March 26, a 22-year-old netminder of the Philadelphia Flyers, Alexei Kolosov, formally ended his tenure in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). His Dinamo Minsk membership introduced that he can be coming over to North America after the conclusion of their group’s season. He is presently on a three-year entry-level contract with the Orange and Black.
Kolosov is arguably the greatest goaltender the Flyers have in the group by way of potential. For now, whether or not he goes to the American Hockey League (AHL) to end the season or joins the Flyers is unclear. Regardless, the group now has the freedom to do no matter it pleases with the promising younger goaltender.
Who Is Alexei Kolosov?
Kolosov is a 6-foot-1 Belarusian netminder whose greatest power is his athleticism. He has loads of highlight-reel saves, serving as considered one of the greatest pure athletic goaltenders the Flyers have had in a very long time. He has additionally put up strong numbers in the KHL, with a .907 save proportion (SV%) and a 2.39 goals-against common (GAA) in 2023-24 with a 22-21-3 file and 4 shutouts.
He had a 2-4 file in the playoffs however a .925 SV% and a 2.21 GAA. His .909 SV% and a pair of.56 GAA in 120 contests in his profession should not too shabby for the teen. The KHL remains to be considered one of the prime hockey leagues in the world, so for him to be that snug at his age needs to be inspiring for Philadelphia.
How Does This Impact the Flyers?
The Flyers are in a singular place. While they’re rebuilding, they’re additionally in a great place to make the playoffs with 87.2 percent odds per Money Puck, with simply 10 video games left in the common season. They even have a goaltending downside. While their 24-year-old rookie starter, Sam Ersson, has been outstanding regardless of a fairly subpar .898 SV%, the backups haven’t.
Related: Flyers Can Be Legitimate Playoff Threat if They Find Consistency
Cal Petersen, the group’s first backup, registered a .864 SV% and a 3.90 GAA in 5 appearances. The Flyers, realizing that wasn’t going to reduce it, known as up AHL netminder Felix Sandstrom to try to cease the bleeding. However, it solely bought worse from there. In 5 appearances, he has a lowly .823 SV% and a 3.87 GAA.
It would probably be greatest for Kolosov to get a while to cool down after enjoying in over 50 video games this season in the KHL, however he may get some aggressive NHL video games below his belt if the Flyers take the threat to play him. In determined want of an sufficient backup, Kolosov is perhaps the reply. It can be a daring transfer, however it’s not onerous to see why the Flyers would need his companies. A recreation or two in the NHL is perhaps useful for his growth.
In the future, Kolosov will probably battle for the beginning job with Ersson, 18-year-old Carson Bjarnason, and 18-year-old Yegor Zavragin. The Flyers are fairly stacked by way of younger goaltenders, and any considered one of them may take cost to turn out to be the reply between the pipes. The upside is in Kolosov’s favor at this stage, although.
Kolosov’s potential lies together with his expertise greater than his stats, however even they’re good for a younger goaltender in an expert league. In all chance, he’ll spend a while in the AHL to hone his craft for the remainder of this season and maybe a good chunk of the 2024-25 marketing campaign. If he performs nicely sufficient, he may take over the NHL backup position for good fairly quickly.
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