The goaltending position for the Flyers has certainly been under a microscope for the past few weeks. As Sam Ersson carries the workload, questions surrounding the backup position have continued to emerge.
Cal Petersen made four starts with the Flyers this season, including two after the news of Carter Hart’s leave of absence was out. After Petersen was sent down, Felix Sandstrom was recalled and has made three starts.
The lackluster performance of both has led to questions about the potential of any goaltender joining the Flyers to help. That conversation started at the NHL trade deadline, when the Flyers could have added a cheap netminder to provide a different option. But some help could be on the way.
For the last several weeks, as Aleksei Kolosov’s season with Dinamo Minsk was wrapping up in the KHL, it was believed that Kolosov would be coming over to North America after that. Kolosov had a 22-21-3 record with a 2.39 GAA and .907 save percentage for Dinamo Minsk.
On Tuesday, Kolosov’s KHL team posted well wishes on social media. Flyers GM Danny Briere confirmed on Thursday that the Flyers are expecting Kolosov to come to North America soon, but there’s no timeline as to when due to possible immigration issues.
Briere also confirmed that the 22-year-old prospect goalie will start in the AHL.
That would keep things status quo on the NHL roster for now, until Thursday morning when CSKA Moscow terminated Ivan Fedotov’s two-year contract after one season. This paves the way for Fedotov to potentially join the Flyers.
Fedotov, 27, is under contract with the Flyers after the team tolled his one-year deal from last season to the 2023-24 season. Similar to Kolosov, there could be some issues in getting Fedotov over to North America that impact the timing in which this could happen, but all signs appear to the Russian netminder joining the Flyers before season’s end. Fedotov would become a free agent after this season.
Fedotov was a seventh-round pick of the Flyers in the 2015 NHL Draft. Two years ago, Fedotov was preparing to come to North America when he had to complete mandatory military service.
In his recently-completed season with CSKA Moscow, Fedotov had a 21-22-1 record with a 2.37 GAA and .914 save percentage. He had a 1-4 record in the playoffs with a 2.57 GAA and .916 save percentage.
The Flyers have not confirmed anything regarding Fedotov as of Thursday afternoon.
