Photo Credit: The Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Alexei Kolosov made his 2023-24 season debut in dramatic fashion as he pitched a 26 save shutout for a 6-0 Dinamo Minsk victory. For the season, he compiled a 22-21-3 record with a 2.39 GAA, and a .907 Save Percentage. As the KHL season concluded, the Dinamo Minsk officially announced that Kolosov will be heading to North America to pursue his dreams with the orange and black.
Kolosov played well this past season for the Dinamo Minsk in the KHL. He stands at 6’1 and weighs 187 pounds. Kolosov played in arguably the second toughest league in the world, as he moves laterally post to post well.
This young native of Belarus in Kolosov was born on January 4, 2002 in Minsk, BLR. He breathed, and started playing the sport of hockey practically from birth. His passion for the game found himself playing for the Minsk as he registered a commanding 2.55 GAA, and amassed a .912 Save Percentage in 42 games played in 2022-23.
The young 21-year-old prospect worked his tail off in the offseason to improve his game. He is seasoned and gaining experience. A team can never have too many goalies in their system. I think former Flyers’ General Manager Chuck Fletcher really liked that he was seasoned, thus selecting Kolosov.
Of course, Kolosov suited up in two games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this past season, so he can just ease into next season with little pressure. There have been multiple reports recently published suggesting that Kolosov would like to return to the KHL next season, stating troubles adapting to North America. I mean grant it he was only here in North America for about a month, so it’s highly unlikely it’s about playing time, but anything is possible.
It’s typical, especially a young player from Europe, to be homesick here in North America. This is probably the case for Kolosov. Now he can’t just leave voluntarily for the KHL, he has a contract with the Flyers, so he’s binded by that agreement. The Flyers would have to give him permission/loan to leave. I can’t see the Flyers doing that either, and Flyers’ General Manager Danny Briere confirmed that yesterday on the Nasty Knuckles Podcast:
“If he wants to play hockey, he has to come over here. He’s under contract with the Flyers. He’s not allowed to play anywhere else, we want him here.” – Danny Briere
It’s hard adapting to another culture, but Kolosov knew the risks of such, thus agreeing to sign with the Flyers. Kolosov might have been homesick, and that is very understandable for a young man that played a lot of hockey last season before coming to North America for the tail end of the Phantoms season. Even with him switching agents, I cannot confirm or deny anything, but either way, the more he’s donning the Flyers organization colors, it becomes all the more likely that he will be present at Training Camp in the Fall with the Flyers. It appears the Flyers will play hardball, thus placing him into a situation to succeed in the Fall.
“We had people checking on him every day. He’s shy, he didn’t speak a lot of English. Going into the season we wanted to help him out, and put him in the best possible position to succeed this year. We are hearing all these rumors. We haven’t had a full or clear answer at this point. But, if he wants to play hockey, he has to come over here. He’s under contract with the Flyers, he’s not allowed to play anywhere else, we want him here. So we will see, in our mind he has to report,” Briere continues to say on the Nasty Knuckles Podcast.
It will be interesting to see how the next few weeks play out, but Briere practically confirms that they are against loaning him to the Dinamo Minsk in the KHL for another season, to which I’ve said all along.
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