It’s never boring when it comes to hockey in Philadelphia. On Friday morning, Flyers general manager Danny Briere held a press conference introducing goaltender Ivan Fedotov as a full-time member of the NHL roster after a tumultuous few years where it seemed like he would never be able to step on North American ice.
The 27-year-old netminder has gone through a lot to get to this point and on the ground in Philadelphia. Back in July 2022, he signed his one-year rookie deal with the Flyers but was soon after arrested for alleged evasion of military service, preventing him to head overseas, and sent to a military base in Siberia. He missed the entire 2022-23 season, and then returned in KHL action for the 2023-24 season with a two-year contract, and played fairly well as CSKA Moskow’s starting goaltender. That contract was quickly terminated, and he made his way over to the Flyers to now join the team as they are in hot pursuit of the playoffs.
A journey that seems unreal at times, is finally turning the page into a new chapter and Fedotov cannot wait to get started in the NHL and with the Flyers.
“I was here a long time ago, around eight years, so it’s been a long time,” he said. “Now, I’m so excited to be here and it’s a great feeling. Been a really difficult two years for me and now I’m here and I want to help the team battle for the playoffs and be one of the best teams in the playoffs. I’m excited, happy, and I want to say thanks to the whole organization for supporting me.”
“Now it’s my career starting here. I hope it will be a long road together, with Philly.”
Fedotov’s contract is set to expire this summer and technically, he will become an unrestricted free agent, but according to GM Danny Briere, there are potential plans in place so he doesn’t even hit the open market.
“As far as the contract extension, it’s something that we’re working on,” Briere said. “I don’t expect that to be an issue, but nothing has been done as of yet.”
And while Fedotov would certainly be happy to starting his NHL career with any club, he has already made it clear that he wants to stay in Philadelphia and hopes for a long-term future with the Flyers.
“Yes, for sure, yes, I am open. Now, I just need to focus on the season and then we’ll see,” Fedotov said. “I hope it will be a long time together.”
It certainly seems like the outline of a plan is put in place. If everything goes well for the 6-foot-8 goaltender and he shows that he is certainly capable of being at the very least, a serviceable backup at the top level, then he will be signed to what most likely to a contract extension that will keep him in Philadelphia for the foreseeable future. Some extension of their commitment to him, no matter how many amount of years or cap hit, should solidify their goaltending position as they go through this transition period.
For the current Flyers netminders, they have been aware of the situation. According to multiple reports, the Flyers have been working on bringing Fedotov over for weeks now and Briere made it clear on Friday morning that they have kept the existing tandem up to date.
“Yes, we’ve been upfront,” the Flyers general manager said. “Sam (Ersson) has been kept in the loop, Felix (Sandstrom) has been kept in the loop. We try to be as open as we can with our players and it was going to affect them. But at the same time, we told Sam, ‘you’ve earned the right to be the No. 1. We believe you in, we trust in you.'”
As of right now, Ersson will be the starter and Fedotov as the backup. Felix Sandstrom has been sent down to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms as the Flyers have made their tandem. And Briere made it confirmed that Fedotov will be eligible to play in playoff games this season, despite joining the team after the trade deadline.
Things always change fast and next thing we know Ersson could put up a couple of stinker games and Fedotov could have gone with two shutouts to start his NHL career. And things are flexible in between the pipes in Philadelphia, but we at least know where things stand right now, and it might just be good for the first time in a while.
