VOORHEES, N.J. — If it wasn't clear, John Tortorella made it clear Thursday.
Aleksei Kolosov is the Flyers' backup goalie and Ivan Fedotov is the No. 3.
With Samuel Ersson being activated off injured reserve Sunday, the Flyers have three goalies on their roster again. Tortorella said 10 days ago that it wasn't ideal "to have three around all the time" and the Flyers were eventually "going to have to figure this out."
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While it's uncertain when general manager Danny Briere will trim the Flyers' goalie picture to two, as of right now, Fedotov is the odd man out.
"Danny and I have talked about that, I'm not sure when it's going to happen," Tortorella said at morning skate. "But I do have it figured out: Ers is our No. 1, Koly's our No. 2 and Feds is our No. 3. That has been decided."
Kolosov will start Thursday against the Red Wings at the Wells Fargo Center (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP). Ersson will be his backup after playing the past two games. Fedotov would have to clear waivers to report to AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley. It's possible the Flyers could loan him to the Phantoms for a conditioning stint, which can be a maximum of 14 days. But eventually, he'd have to clear waivers to be in Lehigh Valley full-time.
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After giving up 14 goals in his first three starts and losing his backup job, Fedotov rebounded, going 4-1-1 with a 2.74 goals-against average and .901 save percentage over his last seven starts. The 6-foot-7 Russian is 28 years old, but, for various reasons, he started his NHL career only eight and a half months ago.
Given he is just 22 years old and on his entry-level contract, Kolosov has a greater chance to be a part of the Flyers' long-term future. After a rocky offseason, which bled into training camp, Kolosov and the Flyers have made it work so far this season. But the goalie being loaned back to the KHL, Russia's top pro league, was not ruled off the table before the season started.
In his last five starts, Kolosov has gone 3-1-1 with a 2.58 goals-against average and .904 save percentage.
"I've talked to Feds, I've talked to all the goalies about where we're at," Tortorella said. "Now the mechanics of Feds and all that, that falls a little bit with Danny and we're having conversations about that. We've still got to check out Ers, make sure he stays healthy. I mean, that's a question mark. We've got to wait and see what happens there."
Ersson has made two starts after missing 11 straight games because of a lower-body injury. The injury has cost him 13 games in total. On the season, the 25-year-old is 6-3-2 with a 2.85 goals-against average and an .893 save percentage.
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