With Ersson sidelined again, Kolosov has been given a golden opportunity to prove his NHL readiness. The Flyers should take advantage of this moment to evaluate the suddenly surging goalie prospect.
The Philadelphia Flyers are without goalie Sam Ersson just one month into the season, and with a back-to-back on deck, the team ought to get a good look at prospect Aleksei Kolosov in NHL action once again.
Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet did reveal Saturday that Kolosov, 23, would start Sunday night's game against the lowly Calgary Flames, which isn't exactly a surprise, but it's exactly what the Flyers should be doing.
In fact, they might want to lean into it more while they have the opportunity.
The Flyers have games in Montreal and Nashville later this week before returning home again for nearly a week.
Should they want to preserve starting goalie Dan Vladar and get another look at Kolosov, going with Vladar against Montreal and Kolosov against Nashville would be ideal.
Then, if and when Ersson returns, Vladar can get two or three more games in before the Flyers have another back-to-back on Nov. 14 and Nov. 15 against St. Louis and Dallas.
Aleksei Kolosov Reintroduces Himself to Top of Flyers Prospect Pipeline
This top Flyers goalie prospect is kicking off his comeback tour with some stellar play and a commanding shutout, and now we can officially consider him back on the radar.
Yet another injury proves the Flyers can't truly rely on Ersson going forward, and it hasn't helped that both Vladar and Kolosov have looked incredible at the NHL and AHL levels, respectively, this season.
Something else worth noting is the fact that both Ersson and Kolosov will be restricted free agents at the end of this season.
The Flyers would have no issues moving to retain both goalies, but Kolosov wants to grow into an NHL role, and Ersson is an NHL goalie.
At some point, something will have to give in order for the Flyers to resolve the burgeoning logjam at the position.
And, in due time, the Flyers will have prospects Carson Bjarnason and Egor Zavragin vying for roster spots, too.
The Flyers can probably only keep one or the other, reasonably, but while Ersson is on the shelf with another ailment, it's the perfect opportunity to throw Kolosov into the fire and see how much he's improved, if at all, against this level of competition.