Philadelphia Flyers Recall Aleksei Kolosov, Reassign Adam Ginning

Goaltender Aleksei Kolosov’s time with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms was short-lived. The Philadelphia Flyers announced they recalled Kolosov from the Phantoms and sent defenseman Adam Ginning the other way. Additionally, the team shared that they placed defenseman Yegor Zamula on the injured reserve with an upper-body injury retroactive to January 23rd.

The recall is head-scratching at face value. After producing a mediocre 4-8-1 record and a .870 save percentage in 15 games with the Flyers, the organization decided to try Kolosov at the AHL level a little over a week ago.

Kolosov’s results in Lehigh Valley weren’t much better. He posted a 2-4-1 record in seven games, with a .874 SV% and a 3.59 goals-against average. Still, while it’s not entirely the fault of the goaltenders, and it is merely wishful thinking that Kolosov would have produced a different outcome, the Flyers are 2-4-0 since sending him down and have given up 20 goals in that stretch.

The Minsk, Belarus native may receive one or two more starting opportunities with Philadelphia in the coming week. However, this is not the most promising route for him to secure more starts. The Flyers have faced significant goaltending issues this season, and Kolosov’s subpar performance has contributed to this problem.

Ginning is heading to a familiar environment fresh off making his season debut in Philadelphia. He skated in 12:48 of last night’s loss to the New York Islanders adding one hit and one blocked shot to the team’s total. He could be back with the Flyers soon given the team only has six healthy defensemen on the roster without him.

Philadelphia had to make a roster move after yesterday’s acquisition of Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier from the Calgary Flames. Moving to the last part of the transaction, Zamula finally lands on the injured reserve after missing the past four games. Once he’s healthy enough to return, Kolosov or forward Rodrigo Abols will likely be reassigned to AHL Lehigh Valley.