The Philadelphia Flyers have signed goaltender Ivan Fedotov to a two-year, $6.5MM contract extension, per Anthony Di Marco of the Fourth Period (Twitter link) and confirmed by The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor (Twitter link). Di Marco adds that the rough outline of this contract was agreed upon before Fedotov came to America, and that the player wanted more term but Philadelphia stood strong at two years. This extension comes three games into Fedotov’s NHL career.
Philadelphia drafted Fedotov in the seventh round of the 2015 NHL Draft but didn’t try to bring him overseas until 2022. They signed him to a one-year contract, with the hopes of removing him from a country gearing up for conflict. But Fedotov was arrested before he could leave for the United States, and required to serve in the Russian military for one calendar year. The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reported that this service came on an aircraft carrier in the Murmansk region, far from the front lines. The military service kept Fedotov from playing any hockey during the 2022-23 season. He was, reportedly, pressured into a two-year contract with CSKA Moscow ahead of this past season – a deal that both the NHL and IIHF deemed invalid. Fedotov served one year of the contract before it was terminated by CSKA, opening the door for him to finally move to America.
In landing Fedotov, the Flyers were landing one of Russia’s top goaltenders. He did not record a single season of a save percentage below .910, across six seasons and 133 games in the league. His official career stats are 61 wins and a .921 save percentage – adding 18 wins and a .930 in 31 playoff games. Those are incredibly impressive numbers, though Fedotov didn’t translate them to the NHL as quickly as Philadelphia may have hoped. He saved just 43 of 53 shots through his first three NHL games, setting a .811 save percentage and still looking for his first win. Fedotov became the tallest active goalie in the NHL when he debuted, tying Mikko Koskinen and Ben Bishop as the tallest of all-time. That fact, and his history of success in Russia, were enough to earn Fedotov a confident extension from the Flyers. He now becomes the team’s second-highest-paid goalie, behind $5MM man Calvin Petersen, and will look to earn his first win and the starter’s net in his first full NHL season next year.
Ish, new management, same tendency
That’s a lot of salary for an unproven goalie at the NHL level.
This deal could easily backfire, at least it’s only two seasons if Fedotov doesn’t produce at a level capable of an NHL goaltender.