Mar 28, 2024; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; View of a Philadelphia Flyers logo on a jersey worn by a member of the team against the Montreal Canadiens during the second period at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere said he will not loan Belarusian goalie prospect Alexei Kolosov back to Russia’s KHL.
Briere told reporters at the team’s rookie camp Tuesday that Kolosov has not reported to the team and wanted to be guaranteed a spot with the NHL team, or else continue to develop in the KHL with Dinamo Minsk rather than with the Flyers’ AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Briere said the Flyers already granted Kolosov an additional year of training in the KHL last year.
“That was the understanding,” Briere said. “Last year, when we signed the contract, he asked us to loan him back for one year so he can keep developing for one year, and then he would come over. And then we’re here now and he’s still saying the same thing.
“It’s time for him to step up and respect the contract.”
The Flyers want Kolosov to begin integrating himself into North American hockey as well as acclimating to a new home and learning English.
“I get it, you might be homesick, but that’s the life of a professional hockey player. You’ve got to adapt if you want to play hockey. That’s just how it is,” Briere said.
Kolosov could have been the No. 3 goalie on the Flyers’ organizational depth chart, Briere said. But the club signed Russian Ivan Fedotov to serve as the backup to No. 1 goalie Samuel Ersson.
Kolosov was a third-round pick (No. 78 overall) by Philadelphia in the 2021 NHL Draft.
The Flyers already had a similar situation take place with forward Cutter Gauthier, though they sank more draft capital in that case. Gauthier was the fifth overall draft pick in 2022, but his camp eventually told the team that Gauthier had no interest in playing for Philadelphia.
The Flyers then traded Gauthier to the Anaheim Ducks in January 2024 for defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a 2025 second-round pick.
Briere didn’t indicate that another trade could be in the works. Any team that might be interested in Kolosov as a prospect presumably would need to guarantee him an NHL-level job right away to peel him away from the KHL.
“I guess we can still hope that he decides to show up if he wants to play hockey, but it’s not looking like it at this point,” Briere said. “It is what it is. We have to move on.”
–Field Level Media