The Flyers activated goaltender Samuel Ersson from injured reserve yesterday and reassigned center Jacob Gaucher to AHL Lehigh Valley in the corresponding move. While they were briefly carrying three healthy goalies, that’s no longer the case. Aleksei Kolosov has been removed from the Flyers’ roster, per Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia, indicating he’s also been sent back to Lehigh Valley to leave Philly with an open roster spot.
Ersson is a possibility to start tomorrow against the Senators based on how he fares in today’s practice, head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters (including Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports). He missed four games with an undisclosed injury, believed to be a groin issue, before being activated for yesterday’s win. Yesterday was the first game he was eligible to be activated for after his IR placement.
Before the injury, Ersson had already been clearly superseded as the Flyers’ starter by free agent pickup Daniel Vladař, who’s excelled with a .917 SV% and 2.18 GAA in his first nine starts. Ersson, who’d been Philly’s No. 1 option since 2023-24, had stumbled out of the gate with a .876 SV% and 3.08 GAA with a 2-1-1 record in four appearances. With Vladař shouldering a higher-than-normal workload in Ersson’s absence, though, it makes sense they’d want to get the latter a start, particularly against a Sens team that’s 1-1-2 in their last four and has only played twice so far this month.
Gaucher’s first recall of the season ends after three appearances. He was brought up on Halloween in the wake of an injury concern for Sean Couturier, who only missed one game before returning to the lineup. The 24-year-old still got a brief look as Philly’s fourth-line center, averaging 8:46 of ice time per game and going 9-for-19 (47.4%) on faceoffs. He did not record a point and logged a -1 rating. It was his second NHL stint after receiving a four-game trial with the Flyers last year. The pending restricted free agent remains waiver-exempt for 2025-26.
Kolosov was summoned to serve as Vladař’s backup while Ersson was out and did quite well. He made two appearances, entering a Nov. 1 loss to the Maple Leafs in relief of Vladař before starting the next night against the Flames. Philly lost that game 2-1, but Kolosov was strong, saving 26 of 28 shots faced across the pair of games for a .929 SV% and 1.62 GAA.
It adds to what’s been a promising season for the 23-year-old after a disastrous run in both Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley last season. Through five AHL games this year, Kolosov’s improved leaps and bounds on last year’s .884 SV% with a .918 mark and one shutout.