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Philadelphia Flyers' bad treatment of top prospect leads him to leave the team


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Graham Montgomery
July 27, 2024  (6:33 PM)
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Philadelphia Flyers jersey
Photo credit: Broad Street Hockey

Philadelphia Flyers prospect Alexei Kolosov has left the team to return to Russia, and the reasons why are quite shocking.

Aleksei Kolosov was drafted in the 3rd round, 78th overall by the Flyers in 2021. There was a legit amount of hype around him after he put up very respectable numbers in the KHL as an 18-year-old. Even this season he had solid numbers in the top Russian league before he came over to join the Flyers organization. However, he apparently was not very happy about how the short stint with the team went as he got into just two games with the AHL Lehigh Valley. He says that the Flyers isolated him by putting him up in a hotel by himself when he got to North America.
Per AHL source, Alexei Kolosov told #Flyers at the end of his stint w/ Lehigh Valley he did not want to return

"They put him in the hotel by himself & he felt isolated, especially since his English isn't great"

Put yourself in Kolosov's shoes for a minute.

You're ~5,000 miles from home in a different country where you can't speak the native language or communicate with anyone.

You're the 3rd goalie getting minimal practice reps in AHL. What do you do the other 22 hours of the day?

Not to mention you watch Ivan Fedotov go straight to the NHL with #Flyers & get a big contract extension shortly after the season ends.
Kolosov also cited a bad team culture as well as a 'lack of direction' as reasons why he chose to leave the Flyers.
Goaltender Alexei Kolosov cites «nonexistent team culture» and «a lack of direction for the franchise» as his rationale for leaving the Philadelphia Flyers and returning to Dinamo Minsk (KHL) 😳😳
That being said, Kolosov is still seen as a legit NHL prospect by many. Some scouts believe that he will return to North America again at some point, but it seems like if he does, it won't be with the Flyers, who still retain his rights.
Seems Alexei Kolosov is on track to return to Russia, after an ever-brief AHL stint. Interesting testament to his time in the US below

Kolosov, 22, has been a dazzling KHL starter for the last 3 years. He's a top goalie prospect in RU and will, Im sure, earn more NHL love soon
Could he come over as a free agent in a couple of years and jump right into the NHL? It is certainly possible, and something to keep an eye out for over the next couple of seasons.

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