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Goalie Alexei Kolosov to make his Flyers debut Monday after reporting to camp late

Kolosov, 22, was not expected to report to training camp but then changed his mind late last week. He will play at least a period against the New York Islanders on Monday.

Monday's Flyers-Islanders game will be Alexei Kolosov's first action since he played a pair of games with Lehigh Valley in mid-April.
Monday's Flyers-Islanders game will be Alexei Kolosov's first action since he played a pair of games with Lehigh Valley in mid-April.Read moreSteven M. Falk / Staff Photographer

The Alexei Kolosov saga rolls on.

The goalie will make his long-awaited Flyers debut Monday in the team’s preseason game at the New York Islanders (7 p.m., Flyers website).

“I am very honored to be part of the Flyers organization and am happy to be here at training camp,” Kolosov said through a team spokesperson. “I look forward to the opportunity to play alongside my teammates and help the team win.”

The newest turn of events comes almost two weeks after Flyers general manager Danny Brière announced that Kolosov would not be reporting to training camp. On Sept. 26, rumors started swirling in the early hours that Kolosov was making a beeline to Philadelphia — less than 24 hours after the Flyers signed goaltender Eetu Mäkiniemi to a one-year, two-way contract. Mäkiniemi was assigned to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Sunday.

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Kolosov took to the ice for the first time Friday, sporting the same gear he wore last year when he played with the Phantoms. Now he’ll suit up for the big club.

It will be his first game action since he played a pair of games with Lehigh Valley in mid-April. Kolosov joined the Phantoms late last season after compiling a 49-56-10 record with a 2.56 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage in 120 career Kontinental Hockey League games over four seasons with Dinamo Minsk.

Ivan Fedotov was expected to start on Monday, with Kolosov playing half the game or just the third period.

“The things that I’ve heard is just kind of more secondhand, little bit talking to Kim [Dillabaugh, the Flyers goaltending coach], but he’s very athletic,” assistant coach Darryl Williams, who will serve as bench boss, said following the team’s morning skate. “He moves very well, tracks the puck very well, those kind of things.”

The 22-year-old Belarusian does showcase an innate quickness and agility when facing shooters. He squares up and appears to read plays well.

Forward Joel Farabee said he had just seen some clips of Kolosov playing and calls the goalie a “pretty exciting prospect.”

Compared to the 6-foot-7 Fedotov and the 6-3 Sam Ersson, the generously listed 6-1 Kolosov does look smaller in the net. While Fedotov is long and rangy and aggressive at playing the puck, Ersson is more of a tactician while Kolosov relies on his footwork and agility to keep the puck out of the net.

Fedotov will see preseason action for the third time, and he is still learning the North American game. He said following his full-game outing in Saturday’s 3-2 overtime win that he is feeling more comfortable this season after playing in three games last season.

“For us, especially like Fedy and Kolosov, we just try to communicate as much as we can,” Farabee said, speaking about the two goalies whose native language is Russian. “Obviously, Fedy plays the puck, probably a bit more than the other guys, but we just try to read off what they’re doing. If they come out, the D kind of read off [of it]. But yeah, it starts with communication.”

Kolosov missed a good chunk of camp before finally coming over, but there appears to be no animosity with the team.

“We’ve been, and we showed it last year, that it’s kind of business with our team,” Williams said. “When we show up, it’s business. They have a lot of fun. They really seem to really enjoy each other. They get along. But I think when we come in through the doors, it’s business, and they’re just worried about how their performance is going to be and how we’re going to move forward.”

Breakaways

Guy Gaudreau was on the ice again helping with the Flyers morning skate. ... Forwards Samu Tuomaala and Denver Barkey skated with the non-game group. Barkey continues to recover from mononucleosis. Tuomaala had not skated since the second game of the Rookie Series against the New York Rangers on Sept. 14 because of an undisclosed injury.