The Philadelphia Flyers might be getting some unexpected help in between the pipes.
Announced by the KHL, goaltender Ivan Fedotov’s contract with CSKA Moscow has been terminated after one season. The Flyers own the NHL rights of the 27-year-old netminder.
Roughly 40 minutes after the intial announcement, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman issued a tweet with more information regarding Fedotov’s potential journey to North America and starting his NHL career as soon as possible.
The latest development caps off a rather bizarre two-year period in Fedotov’s career. In 2015 the Flyers drafted in the seventh round (188th overall). In May 2022, the goalie and Flyers agreed on a one-year contract worth $1.1 million (AAV). Following the signing however, Fedotov, according to ESPN, was placed “in a remote military base in northern Russia” following his conscription. In July 2023, CSKA announced they had signed Fedotov to a two-year contract in the KHL, effectively overriding the contract the Flyers had with Fedotov.
In August 2023, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) ruled the Flyers had a valid contract with Fedotov and that CSKA breached international transfer regulations as Fedotov hadn’t gotten a release from the Flyers’ contract to enable him to play for the KHL club. Fedotov, who announced he had completed his military obligations for Russia, was suspended by the IIHF for four months (Sept. 1, 2023 to Dec. 31, 2023). CSKA is currently serving a year-long ban from international transfers for breaching the regulations. That ban runs out August 10, 2024.
This season, Fedotov earned a .914 save percentage and a 2.37 goals against average through 44 games with a record of 21-22-1 after taking all of last season off.
Considering his age and that he is set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, it makes all the sense in the world to have Fedotov try his luck in the NHL and get a few games worth of experience. If the paperwork is figured out, we could see Fedotov backup Ersson through the last nine games of the regular season and into the playoffs. At this point, if he can be even half of what he was in the KHL, he would be an improvement on Felix Sandstrom.
It’s not the first bit of news surrounding a Russian goalie drafted by the Flyers possibly heading across the Atlantic. Earlier this week the KHL’s HC Dynamo Minsk announced Alexei Kolosov would be leaving the KHL and heading to the Flyers organization. Most likely Kolosov would be heading to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL. But again nothing has been confirmed.
What is clear is the Flyers have a few more goaltending options now and for the future then they did at the beginning of this calendar year.
