Flyers sign Ivan Fedotov to one-year, entry-level contract

After it had been rumored for the last few days, the Flyers put pen to paper with promising goaltender Ivan Fedotov. The 2015, seventh round pick signed his one-year, entry-level contract as he will officially be coming over from the KHL.

Due to Fedotov being 25-years-old, his ELC has to be one year according to the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. He will be an RFA after the contract ends next season so the Flyers will still have his rights.

Fedotov will have the opportunity to challenge Carter Hart during training camp and snag a role in the NHL right away. While he isn’t necessarily expected to steal Hart’s job, he will have every opportunity to earn the backup role as well.

Chuck Fletcher spoke on Fedotov’s season during his season ending press conference. The team believes he is ready to challenge for an important role. He is at the age where they feel goaltenders typically hit their prime. He has put the work in and, while the NHL ice will be an adjustment, this was the perfect time to get him over.

Fedotov is coming off a remarkable season with CSKA Moscow of the KHL. He posted a 2.00 GAA and a .919 SV% in 26 regular season games. He was even more impressive on the team’s run to the Gagarin Cup.

There, he posted a 1.85 GAA and a .937 SV% to lead him team to the championship. He would miss out on the KHL MVP but nonetheless, put together an outstanding season in what turned out to be his last in the KHL. He did become a finalist for the league’s best goaltender award.

Overall, Fedotov has spent parts of seven season in the KHL. While there, he appeared in a total of 89 games and posted a 2.13 GAA and a .925 SV%. He was 40-33-7 during his time there. The numbers are even better in the postseason where he went 17-9 and had a 1.96 GAA and a .933 SV%.

And this all comes with Fedotov not playing a full KHL season until the 2019-20 season. Before then, he was bouncing back and forth between there and the VHL, the second highest men’s league in Russia.

Fedotov would also have the chance to play for Russia at the Olympics where he continued to impress. He posted a 1.61 GAA to go along with a .943 SV%. He also registered two shutouts while he was there. Russia would end up with a silver medal. When the stage got larger, Fedotov’s play proved to get even better.

As a seventh round pick, it can sometimes be hard to project where these players may end up in their careers. But the Flyers may not have expected these kind of numbers from a player taken that late. It doesn’t mean those numbers will translate to the NHL where the ice surface is a different size. The team has to be happy with what they’ve seen from Fedotov, though.

The backup goaltending spot will be wide open next season and could have quite a few looking to earn the spot. Fedotov’s name will be high on that list.