May 25, 2026
Geoff Burke/Imagn Images
Carson Bjarnason is lined up to be a part of the Flyers' future in net, but still needs a whole lot of time and reps before he can get there.
Dan Vladar, after an excellent season that established him as the Flyers' clear No. 1 goaltender, is lined up for a contract extension.
Sam Ersson is a restricted free agent this summer, and even though he struggled through the first part of the year, he did finish strong post-Olympic break, to the point where if he came back for next season as a backup, that duo would be a more than manageable short-term solution for the Flyers in net.
But what about beyond that? Who is the goalie standing in the Flyers' crease 3-5 years from now?
Right now, 2023 second-round pick Carson Bjarnason and Belarusian netminder Aleksei Kolosov fill out the Lehigh Valley Phantoms' crease down in the AHL, and represent the immediate call-up options.
Both, though, still need a lot of time.
Kolosov has already been up with the Flyers, but that came with an odd cloud of mystery and speculation regarding his contract status and willingness last year to go down to the AHL – for a while, remember, it was believed that it was either the NHL or back to Belarus and the KHL for him.
That situation, though, appears to have been settled. Kolosov stayed in North America and played the majority of this past season in Allentown, with quick stints in Philadelphia in November and January for just four appearances in total – he posted just an .830 save percentage and an 0-2-0 record when he played for the Flyers.
With the Phantoms, Kolosov went 15-21-2 through 38 games, with a 2.98 goals against average and a 0.895 save percentage. He's 24.
Aleksei Kolosov was up with the Flyers briefly this past season, but settled into taking on AHL starts with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Bjarnason, in his first pro season, went 14-11-4 in 32 appearances, with a 3.43 GAA and a 0.877 save percentage. He'll turn 21 next month.
Neither goaltender's numbers are particularly impressive, but simply put, they just need more minutes and reps in the minors to adapt to the pro game in North America.
It has to be remembered that defensemen and then goalies are often the last prospects to fully develop, with only a few exceptions, so it's far too soon to consider cutting any losses on either goalie.
The Flyers are in a spot where Vladar, and Ersson if he returns, can keep things stable and buy time. So it's a pretty ideal situation for an organization that, historically, has rarely ever had one in the crease. They have to take that as it comes.
The wild card in all of this, though, is Yegor Zavragin, the 2023 third-rounder and Russian prospect who keeps popping up on the radar with often insane numbers overseas.
Here's how they looked this past season for SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL, then underneath in the VHL, Russia's second-tier of pro hockey:
| League | GP | GAA | SV% | W-L-T |
| KHL | 12 | 2.63 | .919 | 5-7-0 |
| VHL | 18 | 1.44 | .949 | 10-6-2 |
*Stats via EliteProspects
Zavragin is 20 years old, so those lines are not bad at all for a very young goaltender facing shots from men.
The big key for him is where he plays next.
For now, Zavragin is slated to play next season in Russia, but there have been murmurs of the Flyers getting him over to North America so that they can be more hands-on with his development – the most recent beat on this last came from Russian hockey social media account Hockey News Hub and Broad Street Hockey early last month.
But it's hard to nail anything down as completely concrete.
Details are often cloudy coming out of Russia, and ever since Danny Brière and Keith Jones took over the Flyers' front office three years ago, the organization rarely lets anything about their inner workings leak.
Matvei Michkov's arrival two summers ago is the best example of that. He wasn't coming over, up until there was a way out of his KHL contract and he suddenly was.
So if Zavragin makes his way over sometime within the next few months, brace for the news to break just as suddenly without much warning.
Don't expect him to come over, if and when, to Philadelphia and be an immediate star who's posting frequent shutouts or 30-save wins either.
Zavragin still needs the reps and plenty of minutes to develop, too.
He's just the goaltending prospect who, right now, carries the highest ceiling of any future goaltender the Flyers have in their current deck.
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