The Philadelphia Flyers have made the first move of their 2026 offseason. Goaltender Aleksei Kolosov has signed a one-year, $850,000 contract extension with the team.
Kolosov’s entry-level contract was expiring and he was slated to become a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
The 24-year-old is coming off his second full season in North America, mainly serving as the starter for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL. In 38 games played for the Phantoms, Kolosov posted a 15-21-2 record to accompany a .895 SV%, 2.98 GAA, and 2 shutouts.
Kolosov also played in 4 games for the Flyers in 2025-26, making 2 starts and 2 relief appearances. He went 0-2-0 with a .830 SV% and 4.00 GAA. His last NHL start saw him let in 3 goals on the first 3 shots he faced in a span of 1:20 against the Rangers on January 17th.
After a very poor 2024-25 season that saw him essentially force his way into NHL action before heading back to Lehigh Valley, Kolosov settled in this year and performed better at the AHL level. While his numbers still don’t exactly jump off the page, his .895 SV% and 2.98 GAA were improvements from his .884 SV% and 3.11 GAA that he sported last season with the Phantoms.
It will be interesting to see what this signing means for the Flyers’ goaltending plans for 2026-27. Sam Ersson is entering restricted free agency this summer and the backup goalie market is relatively thin. Ersson, who has spent the last three seasons in Philadelphia full-time and has been in the Flyers organization since being drafted in 2018, expressed his interest in re-signing with the club during his exit interview and had a strong finish to his season. Carson Bjarnason will be back in Lehigh Valley and doesn’t look ready to be the starter there just yet, and it doesn’t look like Egor Zavragin will be coming over from the KHL. This is likely just the team holding onto organizational depth while they get things figured out behind Dan Vladař, and Kolosov should be returning to Lehigh Valley next season, but it’s a situation worth monitoring.
The Minsk, Belarus native was originally drafted by the Flyers in the third round of the 2021 NHL Draft (78th overall). A former two-time KHL All-Star with Dinamo Minsk, Kolosov has appeared in 52 AHL games with the Phantoms (21-28-3, .892 SV%, 3.02 GAA, 2 SO) and 21 NHL games with the Flyers (5-11-1, .863 SV%, 3.64 GAA, 0 SO).
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