Flyers prospect Ivan Fedotov makes return to hockey as contract saga takes latest twist

Fedotov, 26, made his first KHL appearance since April 30, 2022, after missing all of last season while completing his mandated one year of Russian military service.

Ivan Fedotov started CSKA Moscow's KHL season opener on Friday, his first pro appearance in a year and a half.Read morePavel Bednyakov / Sputnik via AP

by Gustav Elvin

Published Sept. 1, 2023, 1:33 p.m. ET

Friday brought the latest twist in the Ivan Fedotov saga, as the goaltender made his return to hockey for CSKA Moscow.

The Flyers prospect, who missed the entire 2022-23 season while completing his mandated military service in Russia, started CSKA Moscow’s season opener against Ak Bars Kazan, his first professional appearance since April 30, 2022. CSKA Moscow lost, 5-2, with Fedotov making 33 saves on 38 shots.

The team’s decision to start Fedotov is a blatant disregard for the International Ice Hockey Federation, which on Aug. 14 ruled that Fedotov had a valid contract with the Flyers and not with CSKA Moscow. On Friday ahead of the game, the KHL and CSKA Moscow released a defiant joint statement against the IIHF’s ruling.

“The CSKA team applied for the match and included Ivan Fedotov in the list to participate in the match,” said KHL president Alexei Morozov. “The KHL accepted the application, the application went through the CIB database, so he will take part in the match. The KHL and the club do not agree with the IIHF decision, which infringes on the constitutional right of a citizen of the Russian Federation to work. The General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation came out in defense of the player and sent a warning to the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, the club and the League about the inadmissibility of violating the right to work and ordered Fedotov to be allowed to participate in the competition.”

The IIHF ruling would clear Fedotov to make the move to North America, but CSKA is appealing the decision, arguing that Fedotov’s contract with the Flyers is expired and that the KHL contract he signed earlier this summer is the valid one.

“As you know, today CSKA filed an appeal with the IIHF, lawyers will investigate and make a decision,” Morozov said Friday.

The Flyers announced at the end of July that Fedotov’s NHL contract was “tolled,” or rolled over to this season.

Fedotov, a seventh-round pick by the Flyers in 2015, signed his entry level contract with the Flyers on May 7, 2022, and was expected to compete for the backup job last season behind Carter Hart. He was then arrested on July 1, 2022, for evasion of military service and following a trial was taken to a remote military base in northern Russia for training and to fulfill his service obligation.

All able-bodied males in Russia between the ages of 18 and 27 are required to complete one year of military service. Fedotov completed his military service on July 1, and was registered with the KHL and unveiled as a CSKA Moscow player again on July 8.

Before being assigned to the military, Fedotov, who will turn 27 in November, was considered one of the top goaltenders in the world outside the NHL. The 6-foot-7 netminder was the KHL’s top goaltender in 2021-22, posting a 14-10-2 record, a .919 save percentage, and a 2.00 goals against average. He was even better in the playoffs, going 16-6 with an otherworldly .937 save percentage and 1.85 GAA as CSKA Moscow won the Gagarin Cup as league champion. Fedotov also won a silver medal at the 2022 Beijing Olympics while representing the Russian Olympic Committee.

The ultimate resolution of Fedotov’s situation will have a major long-term impact on KHL-NHL relations. The KHL and NHL previously had a “memorandum of understanding” that required each league to respect the other’s player contracts. That memorandum was suspended in March 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but both the NHL and KHL have acted in good faith with each other’s contracts since.

With CSKA Moscow challenging the Flyers and the IIHF, that good faith seems to have run out and NHL teams with players playing in the KHL will be paying very close attention. The Flyers have several players in Russia, including Fedotov, 2023 No. 7 overall pick Matvei Michkov (SKA St. Petersburg), and goaltender Alexei Kolosov (Dinamo Minsk).

Michkov is signed with SKA St. Petersburg through the 2026 KHL season, while Kolosov, who signed with the Flyers earlier this summer, is on loan for one more season at Minsk.

For the time being, it is unclear whether Fedotov will come over to North America this season. The Flyers have a logjam of NHL-caliber goalies with Hart, Samuel Ersson, Cal Petersen, and Felix Sandström.