The Philadelphia Flyers recalled Aleksei Kolosov from the AHL exactly one week ago, and he has yet to do so much as to dress as a backup goalie for even one game so far.
Kolosov, 23, has not appeared in an NHL game since Jan. 2, when he allowed four goals on 26 shots in a 5-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Belarusian was subsequently reassigned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, though he returned to the Flyers on Jan. 31, sat for a month, then returned to Lehigh Valley again on March 6.
Kolosov has played eight games for the Phantoms since Jan. 2, stopping 192 of 216 shots for a .889 save percentage and posting a 4-4-0 record.
Kolosov's numbers were actually tattered by a rocky start that saw him allow 10 goals in his first two AHL starts since October, and he's been much improved since returning to the AHL in early March.
The 23-year-old has won four of his last six starts for the Phantoms, stopping 136 of 150 shots for a .907 save percentage, which is a drastic improvement over his career .884 save percentage in the AHL.
So, when current Flyers backup goalie Ivan Fedotov allowed nine goals on 32 combined shots in games against Dallas and Chicago last weekend, Kolosov's return to the Flyers at least made some sense.
In a lost season where your backup is not playing well (again), give the kid a shot and see what he does in the last handful of games, right?
And yet, at least so far, all Kolosov has done is watch from the press box.
Perhaps the firing of head coach John Tortorella has played a role in this, though it's impossible to be certain.
Tortorella started the 2024-25 season insisting that Sam Ersson was the undisputed starter and Fedotov was the backup.
Then, Kolosov commandeered the backup role by November, just to hand it back over to Fedotov after a series of poor showings at the end of December.
Leading up to his dismissal, Tortorella then referred to Ersson and Fedotov as a "tandem" with both goalies struggling with consistency equally.
Then, the 28-year-old Fedotov had those two dreary outings, and up came Kolosov again.
The Flyers' evaluation of the goaltending situation changes almost monthly, which is understandably unsettling for many fans.
What we can say about Kolosov - and this is true for any developing player - is that there is little benefit to spending swaths of games in the press box instead of being on the ice gaining experience firsthand.
Another thing to note is that, because Kolosov is signed to a two-way contract, his salary while playing in the AHL is just $80k.
This pales in comparison to his $832.5k base salary, and we must also consider that Kolosov has to take care of his girlfriend as well as himself while shuttling back and forth between Philadelphia and Allentown as frequently as he has.
While Kolosov did play in the KHL for parts of four seasons, the league's salary cap is only $10 million in U.S dollars, and the Belarusian ruble is equivalent to only 0.31 USD at the time of this writing.
By spending time in the NHL with the Flyers, Kolosov makes substantially more money, which is undoubtedly a huge help for a player who is still acclimating to life in North America and speaks and understands a very limited amount of English.
It's unclear whether the Flyers are doing this as a favor to their young prospect or if they really do want him on the NHL roster for hockey reasons, but if it's the former, it makes plenty of sense.
Players are human and have lives away from the rink, too.
On that note, though, it would be strange to see Kolosov spend the rest of the NHL season with the Flyers without appearing in any games, then return to Lehigh Valley ice cold ahead of the Calder Cup playoffs.
Ideally, Ersson, Fedotov, and Kolosov each play two of the team's final six games before the latter returns for the Phantoms' postseason campaign.
That decision, of course, is ultimately up to interim head coach Brad Shaw and the Flyers brass. Expect more clarity on the situation soon.
