The Calgary Flames are reportedly expected to be one of the teams making a run at Alexei Kolosov should he become available for a trade, per a report from Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco on social media.

It comes after reports emerged over the summer that Kolosov would not report to the Flyers rookie camp, which was confirmed on Wednesday that the Russian netminder was not going to attend. This is despite the fact that he is a season into an ELC he signed with Philadelphia back in July 2023 and has two years remaining on that contract at the time of filing.

One has to wonder why the Flames would even entertain the idea of trading for Kolosov when he is giving his current team a tough time with his refusal to show up for camp. After all, Calgary just saw Russian defenceman Nikita Okhotiuk leave the organization for the KHL and later revealed he not only never felt quite at home in the Red and Yellow but also didn’t enjoy living in North America. Combine that with the emergence of Dustin Wolf who is expected to get a longer look this season, and it may seem odd that Craig Conroy would potentially be interested.

Considering that our prospect rankings only saw two goalies crack the list (Wolf at #2 and Kirill Zarubin at #19), there is a clear need for some additional depth in net for the Flames organization. Because of how volatile the position can be, it is never a bad thing to have multiple quality options because it is a crapshoot to determine which goalie prospect will pan out. Wolf is on track to be the netminder of the future, but that doesn’t mean this first full year in the NHL is going to go smoothly for him. And beyond him are two goalies with question marks in Devin Cooley and Dan Vladar, so the position is not fully secure long-term.

If Kolosov is willing to come to Calgary, he would be a quality addition to the depth charts. Especially when you consider the fact he has gotten a considerable amount of KHL starts at such a young age. In four seasons with Dinamo Minsk, he has posted a record of 49-56-19 record along with a .909 SV%, a 2.56 GAA, and six shutouts. Although it may seem unimpressive at first glace, consider that Minsk were a mediocre team during the four years Kolosov was there so he did the best he could in spite of the circumstances.

The Belarusian goalie also got to play in two AHL games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to end this past season where he went 1-1-0 while posting a .885 SV% and a 3.03 GAA.

While it remains to be seen if this trade will come to fruition, Kolosov is nonetheless a name that Flames fans should keep an eye on in the coming weeks.