Goalie Ivan Fedotov signs 2-year, $6.5M deal with Flyers after long journey to NHL

PHILADELPHIA — Goaltender Ivan Fedotov signed a two-year, $6.5 million contract with the Flyers on Tuesday, landing a short-term commitment in the NHL less than a month after joining the team and nine years after his complicated and secretive journey to Philadelphia began.

Fedotov made his long-awaited Flyers debut earlier this month after being selected in the seventh round of the 2015 draft. He was able to join the team after CSKA Moscow terminated his contract in Russia’s KHL.

The 27-year-old went 0-1-1 with a 4.95 GAA and a .811 save percentage in three games (one start) with Philadelphia this season.

He went 21-22-1 with a 2.37 GAA and a .914 save percentage in 44 games in the KHL. The 6-foot-7, 214-pound Russian was tied for sixth in shutouts and tied for eighth in wins.

Fedotov initially signed with the Flyers in May 2022 and attempted to come to North America two months later. But he was taken by authorities to a remote military base in the Arctic Circle for a year of service.

Before trying to jump to the NHL two years ago, Fedotov helped the Russians reach the Beijing Olympic final, where they lost to Finland and left with a silver medal.