Alexei Kolosov Looks Strong in Quality Start to KHL Season

There’s no such thing as too much quality goaltending. Even if an organization possesses a sure-fire number one netminder, high-end talent residing throughout the pipeline is never a detriment. Although the KHL season is still young,  it appears the Philadelphia Flyers added another promising goalie, Alexei Kolosov, to their ranks in the 2021 NHL Draft.

At just 19-years-old, Kolosov is already making quite the impression in-net for Dinamo Minsk. Through nine contests, he’s posted a .929 save percentage while allowing 2.11 goals per game. The Belarus-native already has one shutout to his name while just allowing one goal in three games. Aside from 7-3 shellacking in mid-September, Alexei Kolosov appears comfortable in arguably the second-best professional hockey league.

Though it is rare for such a young goaltender to experience this level of success at such a high level of competition, Kolosov’s triumphs should not come as a complete surprise. The 2020-21 season demonstrated signs that he was ready for a quality 2021-22 campaign. In nine games with Dinamo last season, Kolosov averaged 2.69 goals-against and posted a .911 save percentage. While with Dinamo-Molodechno, he recorded a 2.23 GAA and a .910 SV%.

Alexei Kolosov’s shots and goals against diagram for the month of September. Courtesy of InStat.

As someone who spends a lot of time absorbing information and watching tape on prospects, I tend to preach realism and caution when getting excited about a young player’s success. Just because a prospect demonstrates elite talent in one league or level of competition does not mean they will translate into an NHL regular. There is still a lot of work for Kolosov to put in to get there.

At the same time, it is hard to ignore how well he is playing at a position where professional success typically does not show until your mid-20’s. Playing at the level at which Kolosov finds himself at the age of 19 is unheard of in most high-end pro leagues, especially when talking about an institution as highly regarded as the KHL.

Of course, only time will tell with Alexei Kolosov. There is still time for his hot start to fizzle out. There’s even more time for us to one day throw around the phrase “peaked early” somewhere down the road. However, as of right now, one cannot help but imagine him backing up Carter Hart in a few years. We have always hoped that one day a netminder from our farm system would successfully slide into that role. As of now, Kolosov deserves to be in that conversation.

Now, one may ask, “what is the difference between Kolosov and Ivan Fedotov?” How can we discuss an improbability to Fedotov coming over to North American but not apply the same mentality to Kolosov? The answer to those questions is quite simple. For one, there is a drastic age difference between the two netminders. Where Kolosov is still an up and comer in the sport, Fedotov is at an age where risking a career in North America is not worth it compared to continuing to ride a good thing in Russia. Secondly, and most importantly, Kolosov is not a native Russian son. Yes, his home country of Belarus is Russia’s neighbor, but that does not mean that Kolosov would possess a similar national pride that prevents some Russian players from leaving the KHL.

The discussion of Alexei Kolosov’s NHL potential is far too premature to dive into anything serious. For now, it simply looks as though the Philadelphia Flyers have another promising goalie marinating in their prospect pool.

Author: John Gove

Mandatory Photo Credit: Kontinental Hockey League (KHL)

John Gove is the Head of Prospects and Draft Coverage for HW Hockey. Follow John on Twitter.

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