With main training camp set to open in just a couple of days, and the roster finally announced, it’s hard to ignore the glaring omission from that roster: after missing rookie camp last week, Alexei Kolosov is still expected to be absent from the proceedings.
And in some ways, this comes as little surprise — after all, rumors have been trickling out for much of the summer that some sort of rift has formed between Kolosov and the Flyers organization, and that Kolosov would prefer to remain playing in the KHL as a result. And now, with camp arriving and everything coming into focus, the Flyers have finally taken the opportunity to address the issue as it stands, and where they see it going.
“I guess that we can still hope that he decides to show up at some point, if he wants to play hockey,” Flyers General Manager Daniel Briere told reporters today. “We hope that he changes his mind and decides to come, but it’s not looking like it at this point. It is what it is, we have to move on, we hope that he would want to compete for a job. When you look at the way we’re built right now, there’s an opportunity there for him… starting in the American League, and most teams use their third goalie, fourth goalie, so he’d be in a competition with the guys we have to play some games this year.”
From where the Flyers stand, they recognize that there are other goaltenders ahead of him on the depth chart, but the battle for a roster spot is being kept well enough open. But this, it seems, wasn’t enough of an assurance for Kolosov. Briere went on to note that, “I think more on his end, he wants to be guaranteed a spot in the NHL, if not he prefers to stay over there, and that’s not the way we see it. We agreed last year to loan him back for one year because he wanted to stay home but at some point, you sign a contract… we want him here, we want him to start integrating himself into the game, the way it’s played here in North America with the smaller ice and learning the language and all of that, and I guess he doesn’t see it that way at the moment.”
Briere also took some time to get out in front of some of rumors which have begun to fly, and back up something Phantoms Head Coach Ian Laperriere spoke on yesterday.
Briere made note that, from where he stands, the group down in Lehigh Valley did all that they could — indeed, even going above and beyond — to make sure that Kolosov felt included and welcome with his new team. And, at the time, that all seemed to be working — reports from both players and staff alike told him that Kolosov was getting along well enough, and was well liked by his teammates and coaches.
The Flyers, it seems, are sympathetic to the challenge that Kolosov has faced in coming over here, and have worked to make it as seamless of a transition as possible, but from where they stand, the need to adapt is an expectation at some point, and Kolosov will need to equally rise to the challenge and meet the expectations that come with signing an NHL contract:
“The way we see it, if he wants to play hockey, he has to respect his contract. For us, we have no interest in loaning him back, we want him to develop here and… you know, there’s a great opportunity in front for our goalies right now. We have young goalies in net, we have Cal Petersen who’s fighting for a spot as well, so we just thought it would be a great opportunity for him at this time. It’s too bad that he’s not willing to come over.”
Certainly, as Briere mentioned several times throughout his availability, the hope is that he changes his mind and decides to come over and work his way up to an NHL job, but the frustration is beginning to mount. He further noted that:
“Yeah we do wonder at this point [if he even ever wants to come over at all], because he doesn’t show that he wants to come. That was the understanding last year when we signed that contract, he asked us to loan him back for one year, so he can keep developing one more year and then he would come over, and we’re here now and he’s still saying the same thing… so it’s time for him to step up and respect the contract that he signed.”
The Flyers are caught in a difficult situation of still wanting to work with the prospect that they’ve invested time in, and indeed, still have a lot of belief in, but also need to shift their focus forwards and planning for the season ahead of them, and the possibility that this might be without Kolosov. The ball is in his court, as it were, and time will tell if he will ultimately step up and rise to meet the challenge in front of him.
