The Philadelphia Flyers’ gargantuan sensation between the pipes appears to be set to stay in South Philly for the long haul.
According to a report, Ivan Fedotov and the Flyers have made significant progress on a contract extension; the 27-year-old could hit the open market in the summer.
As NHL insider Chris Johnston sees it, via TSN’s latest edition of “Insider Trading“, Fedotov isn’t expected to go anywhere.
“He hasn’t even played a full NHL game yet. Came in relief on Monday night and already the work is underway on what would be his second NHL contract,” Johnston said. “And that’s because of the unique circumstances at play here. With him being 27 years old, Fedotov would be eligible to be an unrestricted free agent as of July 1, but I don’t expect that to happen.
“It sounds like considerable progress has been made towards an extension, and it might not be something we see announced in-season here; might come a little bit after the year. But, certainly, from both sides of the equation for Fedotov and the Flyers, I think that they want this to be a longer-term stint together, and I do expect him to be signed long before free agency.”
Without a doubt, Fedotov’s arrival has changed the Flyers‘ fortunes in net for the short and long term.
Sam Ersson has begun to fall apart at the seams after being tasked with a monstrous workload, while promising prospects like Carson Bjarnason and Yegor Zavragin are still years away from the NHL, at best.
Alexei Kolosov just joined the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL, but he turned 22 just three months ago. It’s best that the Flyers have a contingency plan in place and one that is reliable for them. That’s where Fedotov comes in, and just in the nick of time.
If Fedotov is to sign his contract extension before free agency opens on July 1, that would, obviously, be within the next two months here.
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