During the third round of the 2021 NHL Draft the Flyers used their 78th pick on goaltender Alexei Kolosov. Kolosov’s scouting reports highlight his determination and never-give-up mentality. After speaking with him, these traits have become even more obvious. The 19-year-old netminder speaks little English, but he still agreed to speak with me to provide comments for the city he hopes to one day play for. He even offered to run each question through a translator himself to participate.

We spoke about his feelings on being drafted, his opinions on different aspects of his game, and his time playing with Team Belarus.

I had to start with the obvious, so of course, I asked Alexei how he felt about being drafted by the Flyers. He was thrilled by the idea that his lifelong dream of playing in the NHL was starting to become a reality.

Both Alexei Kolosov’s style of goaltending and mature personality reminded me of everything Flyers’ fans once read on scouting reports about some kid named Carter Hart. Since Hart draws a lot of his inspiration from Montreal Canadiens’ goalie Carey Price, I wondered if Kolosov had any role models he emulated; “I don’t have a certain style, I try to be like myself, I just watch a lot of NHL goalkeepers and try to notice all their positive moments and then use them in my game.”

After touching on some of the things that Kolosov thinks better him as a goalie, we also discussed what improvements could be made to his game. While he is confident with his abilities in the net, Alexei aims to improve his ability to play the puck behind the net; “I would like to improve my stick control behind the goal, especially on small rinks when there is little time to make decisions.”

As many of us can imagine, but will never quite understand, the feeling of pride a player gets from representing their country is immeasurable. Alexei Kolosov’s performance with Team Belarus was not as stellar as his stats with Minsk (which may have hurt him slightly in the draft) but from little fault of his own. Despite this, he thoroughly enjoyed his time on the team; “I really like playing for the national team of my country, these are cool emotions that cannot be expressed in words”

Alexei Kolosov may have 3-4 years before he’s ready to be playing in front of fans at the Wells Fargo Center, but his strong mentality and top-notch athleticism will surely get him there. Huge thanks to Alexei Kolosov for taking the time to speak with me, and I believe I speak for many of the readers here at The Liberty Line when I say that we cannot wait to see what you can do.

Welcome to the best sports city in the world.

Mandatory Credit: Getty Images