Two years ago, Ivan Fedotov’s NHL dream seemingly had disappeared. Now, he’s not only an NHL player — he’s being honored for his resolve to achieve his ultimate goal of becoming a netminder in the best league in the world.
On Wednesday morning, the Philadelphia Flyers announced that the Philadelphia Professional Sportswriters Association chapter nominated Fedotov for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which is awarded annually to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey. Each PSWA chapter nominates an individual from their respective team who they believe fits the bill best, and this year, Philadelphia’s choice was the 28-year old Fedotov.
“Well, I think anytime a guy comes on the scene at this level, at that sort of later age, you know that their ability to withstand things is pretty high, because that’s a long journey,” interim head coach Brad Shaw said.
But Fedotov’s journey wasn’t the normal kind of long, involving extended stints in the minor leagues or overseas. Fedotov, instead, dealt with the pain of coming so close to fulfilling his ultimate goal — only to see it ripped away from him under exceptionally unique circumstances.
“I had a lot of extra steps (to make it to the NHL),” Fedotov laughed. “It’s most important for me (that) I got what I wanted.”
Back in the spring of 2022, Fedotov had signed an NHL entry-level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers — seven years after being drafted by the club back in 2015 in the seventh round. He had just concluded a season that saw him backstop a team full of his countrymen to a silver medal at the Olympics, and then cap it off with a 0.937 save percentage performance in the KHL postseason that helped push his CSKA Moscow club to the Gagarin Cup.
The Flyers, unsurprisingly, watched Fedotov’s overseas breakout and believed it had earned him a shot to prove he could flourish in the NHL. The initial plan was for Fedotov to serve as the team’s backup netminder for the 2022-23 season, and Fedotov got to work in Russia that summer to prepare for that long-awaited opportunity.
He never got the chance.
In early July of 2022, Fedotov was essentially pulled off the ice in the midst of his training and arrested by Russian authorities for evasion of military service. Suddenly, not only his hockey career, but his very freedom was in question, especially given the tensions between Russia and the United States due to the former’s invasion of Ukraine, which many speculated had played a role in the decision to detain Fedotov, who was on the verge of relocating to North America to play in what essentially is a rival league to the KHL.
Playing hockey for the Philadelphia Flyers in 2022-23 was now an impossibility; Fedotov would instead spend the season fulfilling his military requirements largely up at the Arctic Circle. And after Fedotov signed a contract with his former KHL club for the 2023-24 season once his military requirements were deemed fulfilled — a contract which was disputed by the Flyers and the NHL, who believed the originally-signed ELC remained in effect — Fedotov’s chances of making his way to the NHL appeared to have disintegrated.
But through it all, Fedotov never lost sight of his ultimate goal.
“It’s been my dream the whole time, (to) be here playing in the NHL,” Fedotov said. “Every kid when he’s growing up probably (has the) dream of playing in the best league in the world.”
Finally, in late March, CSKA Moscow agreed to terminate Fedotov’s KHL contract, after Fedotov spent the full 2023-24 season playing for them. He was now free to join the Flyers, which he did, for the final few games of the NHL season. Fedotov’s first appearance (against the New York Islanders) was especially memorable — he entered in relief of Sam Ersson with the Flyers in the heart of a playoff race, and made 19 saves on 21 shots — including a crowd-pleasing breakaway stop of Mat Barzal — to keep Philadelphia in the game.
The Flyers were impressed enough with the 6’7 Fedotov’s talent to sign him to a two-year, $6.55 million contract extension in the summer. Fedotov would be the Flyers’ presumptive backup netminder for the 2024-25 season — his first full NHL campaign.
The transition — both on and off the ice — wasn’t easy for Fedotov, even after he spent a significant portion of the summer in the United States preparing for the season.
“I was ready (for) it to be different. It’s normal, every country (is) different,” he recalled. “(But) at the beginning, first couple months, was awful, because (it was a) 180 degree change (in) so many different things.”
Fedotov struggled to begin the season, posting an 0.820 save percentage in his first three starts and quickly losing the confidence of then-head coach John Tortorella. Rookie Aleksei Kolosov was quickly called up to usurp Fedotov on the depth chart, a recurring trend throughout the season whenever Fedotov’s play dipped.
“There’s a few times it almost seemed like Torts had quit on him,” captain Sean Couturier noted. “And then, a couple weeks later, he comes in the net and gets us a big win or keeps us in a big game that we shouldn’t have been in.”
Fedotov did seem to provide his best performances after facing the adversity of a long layoff. He outdueled countryman Andrei Vasilevskiy after a two-week “benching” in November for his first NHL win, stopping 22 of 23 shots in a shootout victory over the Lightning. He held down the fort on the road against the high-powered Maple Leafs in early January after sitting out for a month. And then, he delivered perhaps his finest performance after yet another month-long hiatus from the Flyers’ net — a 29-save masterpiece against the then-league leading Winnipeg Jets on the road.
“That game in Winnipeg was about as a good a game as I’ve seen a goalie play in a while,” Shaw noted. “That was a fantastic team humming along, and we walked out of there with a 2-1 victory. So (that) he’s able to do that and able to do it at this level, that’s a credit to him as an athlete and as a person.”
Fedotov acknowledged that his on-ice usage this season was at times difficult to handle. But he found ways to adapt to the situation, and remain as ready as possible in case his number was called.
“It’s not easy, but you have to keep your focus,” he explained. “You have to be consistent. Stay with your routine and work hard. Of course, sometimes, you can be mad inside yourself, because you want to play more, especially when you feel good, after a good game, bad game, whatever. You’re not playing. But it’s not (in) my control. So (I) just concentrate on the practice, how I have to keep my mind fresh and sharp.”
It shouldn’t be a surprise that Fedotov has proven capable of handling adversity at the NHL level. After all, extended layoffs pale in comparison to the uncertainty that comes with a surprise detention and the fear that a longtime dream will never be fulfilled.
But Fedotov did fulfill that dream. And while his full-season statistics — a 6-13-3 record, 0.881 save percentage and 3.12 Goals Against Average — put him near the bottom of the leaguewide charts, they largely match those of Ersson, the Flyers’ No. 1 netminder. And surely, the unique challenges of adapting to a new country and receiving inconsistent usage stand as important pieces of context when evaluating his play.
“He’s been through some ups and downs, but he’s always tried to work through it and be ready when his name was called,” Couturier said. “That’s what you want from a pro.”
It also makes Fedotov a deserving nominee for the Masterton Trophy.
“Of course, it’s (a) long way, long road for me. Finally, I’m here where I want to be,” Fedotov said.
