Goaltender Ivan Fedotov to sign contract with Philadelphia Flyers
Goalkeeper Ivan Fedotov is no longer CSKA’s goalkeeper. The military team officially announced the termination of the contract with the hockey player a day after the dismissal of the red-blue head coach Sergei Fedorov. It appears the road to the NHL is finally open for Fedotov. Ivan will even be able to spend the rest of the current season in the Philadelphia system. But here, everything depends on the American side.
KP Sport tells what happened after Fedotov lost his contract with the CSKA hockey team.
CSKA terminated the contract with Fedotov, but retained the rights to the goalkeeper
There are major changes in CSKA hockey. Following the dismissal of head coach Sergei Fedorov, red-blue goalkeeper Ivan Fedotov also left the team. The termination of the contract with the goalkeeper was officially announced.
— PHC CSKA terminated the contract with goalkeeper Ivan Fedotov at the end of the 2023/24 season. Last season, the player played 49 matches for the army club, stopping 1,251 shots on goal (91.4%). The player’s sporting rights in Russia are still retained by the CSKA hockey club. The club thanks Ivan Fedotov and wishes him success in his future career, the Moscow club said in a statement.
The news of the termination of the contract with Fedotov was more than unexpected. It remains to be seen whether Ivan will play in the NHL, as he has a contract with Philadelphia.
Fedotov could join Philadelphia this season
It seems that Ivan Fedotov is not going anywhere, but to the NHL. According to SE, the 27-year-old goaltender will indeed continue his career in the National Hockey League, of which Philadelphia holds the rights to him.
Additionally, Fedotov can fit into Philadelphia’s system starting this season. » NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told the source. According to the official, there are no restrictions on Ivan spending the remainder of the current hockey year within the Flyers structure.
Insider Elliott Friedman also reported that with the termination of his contract with CSKA, Fedotov will begin his path to the NHL.
“For obvious reasons, everyone is very cautious here, but Fedotov would be on track to start his NHL career with Philadelphia.” I was not aware of this until the news broke today, but all parties have been working on a solution over the past few weeks,” Friedman wrote on his social media page.
CSKA hid Fedotov in the army and was banned from the IIHF. Can the relationship improve now?
A very resounding story is connected with Ivan Fedotov and CSKA. In the summer of 2022, Fedotov was arrested in Saint Petersburg on suspicion of evading military service. After that, the guardian went to repay his debt to his native country.
According to rumors, the story with the army began at CSKA itself in order to hide Ivan from the NHL, because Fedotov managed to sign a contract with Philadelphia. Not everyone in the military club was happy with this transfer – this is how military service appeared. But we don’t know exactly who benefited from it.
Before his call-up, Fedotov was the best goalie in the KHL, a star of the Russian national team. There’s a reason Philadelphia fought so hard for Ivan. After the army, a bad season, only four clean sheets out of 49 and the departure of CSKA from the 1/8 finals of the Gagarin Cup. A very ordinary performance.
And yet Fedotov was still released in the United States, only with sanctions from the International Hockey Federation. After demobilization, the goalkeeper signed a two-year deal with CSKA. The IIHF ruled that Fedotov had thus violated contractual obligations to the NHL club. And the sanctions were not long in coming. In August 2023, the IIHF issued a verdict: four months of disqualification for the goalkeeper, one season of transfer ban – CSKA.
But now the contract with the military team is a thing of the past. Maybe relations with the IIHF will be restored? Former head coach of the Russian national team Vyacheslav Bykov doesn’t think so.
— I respect the technical staff with its head coach Sergei Fedorov and I fully trust the decisions made. Outsiders have no inside information. It is the prerogative of the club to make these kinds of decisions. Will the relationship between FHR and IIHF improve after contract termination? “I doubt it,” quotes SE Bykov.
Did Fedotov have an agreement with CSKA to terminate his contract?
Fedotov’s break with CSKA is a bolt from the blue. But not for everyone. Boris Mikhailov, a member of CSKA’s supervisory board, suggested that the military team had reached a special agreement with its goalkeeper.
— Apparently, Fedotov had a clause in his contract that in a year he would leave for the NHL and CSKA would let him leave calmly. Since the guy wants to try out for America, why force him to stay on the team? Breaking the contract with Fedotov is a completely reasonable decision. If Fedotov didn’t have potential, Philadelphia wouldn’t be as interested in him, Mikhailov told Match TV.
Vice-president of the Kontinental Hockey League Valery Kamensky also speaks of a reasonable decision to part ways.
— Will we see Fedotov in the NHL next season? I don’t know, if Philadelphia is interested in him, then we might see him there. Otherwise, Ivan will play in one of the KHL clubs. CSKA has a new head coach, club policy. They are looking for a new goalkeeper, maybe it will be better for everyone, the club will find another goalkeeper and Fedotov will be able to change the situation,” Kamensky told Match TV.
Apparently, CSKA and Fedotov himself were satisfied with the termination of the contract. The Army team needs to change something after an unconvincing season. It’s time for Ivan to realize his NHL dream. Apparently that’s where he’s headed.
Source: KP
Emma is a professional author and journalist, working at 247 News Update. With years of experience, she brings a unique perspective and in-depth analysis to her work.
