Nov 7, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Flyers right wing Travis Konecny (11) and goaltender Ivan Fedotov (82) celebrate after defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
Just a week before their 2-1 win over Tampa Bay on Thursday, the Flyers brass was getting ready to approach Ivan Fedotov to ask him if he was willing to accept a conditioning assignment in the AHL.
After looking mostly unplayable in goal following three starts in October, the Flyers recalled Aleksei Kolosov from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and he immediately leapfrogged Fedotov in the pecking order of goalies.
Fedotov had been banished to the No. 3 spot in a rotation that is rarely longer than two goaltenders. He was practicing and working on his game, but the reality was, there was very little interest - especially from coaches - of putting him back into an NHL game until he grew more accustomed to the way the sport is played in North America, which is vastly different than in the KHL.
The Flyers wanted to time it just right, because conditioning assignments can only last a maximum of two weeks, and they wanted to maximize Fedotov's time in Lehigh Valley. So, with the schedule lining up for the Phantoms to play six games in 11 days starting the day after Election Day, the Flyers would send him out as they were leaving on their three-game road trip through the southeast and he would be able to start in four of those six games for Lehigh Valley.
It was a classic punting plan for the Flyers - and it was a smart one - get both Fedotov and Kolosov in some games and then reassess.
And then everything went to hell.
Starting goalie Sam Ersson suffered a lower body injury on Saturday that would keep him out about a week. Kolosov also sustained a lower body injury during the morning practice in Tama on Thursday, knocking him out of starting that night.
And suddenly Fedotov, who wasn't even supposed to be here, was getting back on the ice.
Couple this with John Tortorella's decision to make rookie winger Matvei Michkov a healthy scratch on Thursday and, well, considering the Flyers were going into that game with the Lightning with the worst record in hockey, it seemed like it wasn't going to get any better any time soon.
Until Fedotov decided to live up to his nickname as the Iron Giant.
Fedotov wasn't spectacular in net - he didn't have to be, thanks to the defensive structure in front of him - but he was very good. He made the saves when he needed to make them - stopping former Flyer Cam Atkinson on a breakaway in regulation and then thwarting both shootout attempts by Tampa Bay as the Flyers scratched out an unexpected win over Tampa Bay.
Ivan Fedotov denies Cam Atkinson on the breakaway. #Flyers pic.twitter.com/079rJmbEgD
It was the first win of Fedotov's NHL career, coming three weeks before his 28th birthday, and in a game in which he never expected to play.
"It was a bit of a surprise for me this morning," Fedotov said. "It's a great feeling to win especially against (fellow Russian goalie Andrei) Vasilevskiy. ... It's hard to say because I need a little sleep to think about what we did. But everybody knows my story. Everybody knows what happened. But that's in the past and it's a new page and there's great feelings to be here and get the first win."
Fedotov was originally drafted by the Flyers in 2015 - two GMs ago - when Ron Hextall and his front office team took a flier on him in the seventh round, 188th overall.
He bounced back and forth for a few years between being a backup in the KHL and playing in second-tier leagues in Russia but finally established himself as one of the best goalies in the KHL for three seasons, beginning in 2019-20.
Following another dominant campaign in 2021-22, Fedotov was poised to come to Philadelphia and join the Flyers when he was whisked away in a white van following a hockey practice in Russia and was forced to serve in the Russian military for a year. He came back to the KHL last season, agreeing to stay in Russia and not come to the U.S., but then once the KHL season was over, he worked to get out of his Russian contract and join the Flyers, which he did in the final weeks of the regular season last Spring.
He was thrown right into the fire and had a strong relief outing in his first game but has struggled mightily since then.
It got to the point where before this season even began, Tortorella told reporters that the Flyers goaltending "scared the hell out of him." It was more of an indictment of Fedotov's readiness to play in the league than it was about Ersson, who had already established himself as at least a quality enough 1B goaltender in the league.
Fedotov didn't do anything in his first three starts to change that opinion by his coach, which buried him on the depth chart and got the Flyers to the point they were last week where they would rather send him out on a conditioning assignment than give him another chance.
.@BrianBoucher33 gives his perspective on Ivan Fedotov
Watch Episode 77: https://t.co/KCTRrfHF37
Listen: https://t.co/dcuf5gqQFm pic.twitter.com/Boj790qmsG
Funny how this game works sometimes, eh?
"I thought he competed harder, and I didn't think there was a lot of extra movement in his game at all," Tortorella said. "He just seemed more confident. I thought he competed harder tonight."
It wasn't exactly high praise from the coach - in hockey parlance, when they say a goalie "competes hard" it's usually their way of saying that the goalie was fine and that he didn't hurt the team. Fedotov still has a long way to go to get back into Torts' circle of trust, but hey, it's a start.
What happens next for Fedotov is an uncertainty at this point. Playing in games - which he may have to do again Saturday in Florida if Ersson isn't ready - makes it harder for the Flyers to use the conditioning assignment trick. Not to mention, the Phantoms schedule doesn't match up for a bulk of games for him to play in again for a couple of weeks, so the Flyers may be forced to keep all three goalies on the NHL roster for a little longer than they would have liked. Either that or they take the risk of waiving Fedotov before assigning him to the AHL. It's unlikely that a team would claim him with his $3.25 million cap hit for this season and next season, but it's still a risk.
And with Cam York due back soon, the Flyers are going to need a roster spot to activate him, so the roster juggle will be GM Danny Briere's next trick, which, with this roster is akin to a bowling pin, a chainsaw and a lit torch, but hey, that's why Comcast Spectacor pays him the big bucks.
Still, for Fedotov, it was a memorable night. Who knows if or when he'll get a chance at having another one.
