According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, Philadelphia Flyers goalie “prospect” Ivan Fedotov is believed to be returning to play for the Flyers.
The first logistical obstacle in allowing that to happen is that the NHL will need to unsuspend the final year of Fedotov’s entry-level contract, according to NHL insider Kevin Weekes.
CSKA Moscow terminated Fedotov’s KHL contract with them earlier on Thursday, and the IIHF had previously sanctioned both CSKA and Fedotov for violating the contract the 27-year-old already signed with the Flyers.
Both sides appealed to the IIHF and lost their appeals.
“Everyone’s being very careful here for obvious reasons, but it is believed Fedotov is en route to beginning his NHL career for the Flyers,” Friedman wrote from his Twitter/X account. “Wasn’t aware until news broke this morning, but all sides have worked on a solution for the last few weeks.”
After sitting out the entirety of the 2022-23 season, Fedotov appeared in 44 games for CSKA, posting a 21-22-1 record with a 2.37 GAA and .914 save percentage. The Flyers prospect was recently eliminated in the Gagarin Cup playoffs on March 8 at the hands of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, who triumphed in five games.
Fedotov posted a 38-save shutout in the first game but lost in each of the next four.
Flyers general manager Danny Briere met with the media in Montreal earlier today, but was unable to provide a timeline or any other information on Fedotov.
Briere told The Inquirer‘s Jackie Spiegel afterwards that, “I need to know a little bit more,” before offering more information.
It goes without saying that if Fedotov does arrive in Philadelphia to play for the Flyers, it changes the dynamic of their goaltending situation significantly. The Flyers’ front office should be counting their lucky stars if they do get this break.
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