2024-25 Flyers Player Grades: Ivan Fedotov lived out a dream, but his season was a nightmare

Ivan Fedotov lived out his dream of playing in the National Hockey League. His first full season was a nightmare for himself and the Flyers.

Mar 22, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ivan Fedotov (82) allows a goal to Dallas Stars defenseman Esa Lindell (not pictured) during the first period at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

It’s been a helluva few years for Russian goaltender Ivan Fedotov. Arrested. Then Russian military service instead of a goaltending crease. And in the Arctic region to boot! Then the whole kerfluffle with the IIHF and being sanctioned. Finally, in 2024, Fedotov realized his dream, playing for the team that drafted him nearly a decade earlier. As Philadelphia tried to find their way into a new goaltending tandem for 2024-25, Fedotov, Sam Ersson, and Aleksei Kolosov were supposedly the solution. Well, they weren’t. But for now we’ll focus on Fedotov, and how trying the season was for him.

Fedotov was thought to be the backup goalie going into training camp, with Kolosov ideally adjusting to North American hockey in Lehigh Valley. But Kolosov showed up late for camp, then somehow ended up being part of a three-man rotation in goal. The result was less than ideal for all parties, but especially Fedotov. As a result, he was used sparingly at times. In fact, three months of the season he played just once per month: December, February, and April. Granted, Februrary’s schedule was culled due to the Four Nations Face-Off for two weeks. And April’s slate concluded on the 17th. But that’s not a lot of action for supposedly a backup goalie. As a result, the numbers below speak for themselves.

After appearing in two of the opening four games on the West Coast road trip in October, Fedotov stopped 19 of 23 shots in a Washington loss on Oct. 23. He concluded October with an .821 save percentage and anything but the confidence of then head coach John Tortorella. November improved slightly, with three of his six appearances seeing him well north of the .900 save percentage line which is often the average for a competent NHL goalie. He was terrific in a 2-1 shootout win (his first W of the year) over host Tampa on Nov. 7, stopping 22 of 23. He also stopped the same amount against the Rangers in a 3-1 victory at home near the end of November. But as decent as he was some nights, Tortorella was still wanting him (or anyone wearing goalie pads) to prove themselves and earn the starts consistently.

Unfortunately, after a period against the Panthers on Dec. 5 where he let a pair of goals in on seven shots, Fedotov didn’t see any game action for another month. On Jan. 5, the last game of a five-game road trip against Toronto, he saved 22 of 25 shots. But that, outside of a tilt against Columbus where he was okay, was probably the highlight for Fedotov. Put another way, when your goaltender has gone from Nov. 29 to March 1 between wins, it’s a problem. Even an emergency back up goalie would probably fluke a win or two in that time span. But Fedotov (or the team in front of him) could end up scoring more than Fedotov allowed.

It wasn’t overtly said, but it seemed once the Kolosov situation was dealt with in late February and March and he was sent back down for some time in March (until Tortorella strong-armed Briere into using one of their three call-ups near season’s end on Kolosov), Fedotov marginally gained a bit more confidence. Maybe it was the fact he wasn’t looking over his shoulder. Or maybe he had finally realized he was going to play and given the chance to redeem himself. Games against Winnipeg and Nashville were low-scoring 2-1 victories (the Jets win came in a shootout) where Fedotov again looked fine. But there was little to no consistency. An ugly 7-4 loss to lowly Chicago on March 23 was noteworthy because Tortorella didn’t pull Fedotov, letting him eat the loss as the goal totally piled higher and higher. Another loss in April (which helped at the time for draft positioning) was the swan song for Fedotov’s 2024-25 season, one he’d like to forget as much as Flyers fans would.

Fedotov is probably the one huge question mark as to what the Flyers do with him. With Kolosov it seems more of a certainty he doesn’t find himself in North America. With Ersson the Flyers will probably try to tandem him with a veteran goaltender as he hopes to iron out the kinks in his game. But with the possible addition of a veteran goaltender, it’s conceivable Fedotov sees himself on the outside looking in. Whether it’s being sent down to Lehigh Valley where he’s essentially this year’s version of Cal Petersen is one option. Or they simply try a three-man rotation again and have Fedotov seeing very limited action outside of the other two goalies being injured. Regardless Fedotov wasn’t good this season. Not by anyone’s criteria. And it’s doubtful a good to strong start in 2025-26 will change anyone’s opinion.

In the end, Ivan Fedotov (who unlike Kolosov took questions at the year-end exits pressers despite struggling with the language barrier at times) at the very worst put a happy ending to a rather trying few years for himself. He lived out his dream and played in the National Hockey League. And won a few games. But he did nothing to prove he belongs in the National Hockey League either as a starting goaltender or as a viable second option. The jury is still out on what Briere does to address the goaltending. But another season where all three are this horrid is a fireable offense.

2024-25 Grade: D-