Ivan Fedotov named Flyers’ Masterton Trophy nominee: ‘We can’t really understand what he’s been through’

Every year, all 32 Professional Hockey Writers Association chapters select a nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. Named after the only player in NHL history to die from injuries sustained in a game, the award is given to a player “who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.”

This season, there was a clear-cut choice for the Flyers: Ivan Fedotov.

Fedotov will aim to become the fifth Flyer to win the award after Bobby Clarke (1972), Tim Kerr (1989), Ian Laperrière (2011), and Oskar Lindblom (2021). The winner is expected to be announced in June.

“This [is a] surprise for me,” the 28-year-old Fedotov said after finding out.

“It’s my dream, [the] whole time, to be here to play in the NHL,” he added. “Every kid when he’s growing up probably has a dream of playing in the best league in the world. So, it’s a long road for me. And finally, I’m here where I want to be.”

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Long is an understatement.

Last year, general manager Danny Brière received a call that Fedotov was ready to chase his NHL dream. It was a moment nine years in the making for the 6-foot-7 Russian. But the journey to Philadelphia, while it had several highs, had a low so deep it almost ended the dream altogether.

Selected in the seventh round of the 2015 draft, Fedotov became one of the top goaltenders in the world outside the NHL. Named the Kontinental Hockey League’s best goalie in 2021-22, he helped CSKA Moscow win the Gagarin Cup, the KHL’s equivalent of the Stanley Cup, after going 16-6 with a 1.85 goals-against average and .937 save percentage in the playoffs. That same year, he won silver at the Beijing Olympics with the Russian Olympic Committee team.

All signs pointed to him heading to North America.

On May 7, 2022, Fedotov signed a one-year entry-level contract with then-general manager Chuck Fletcher and the Flyers. He was expected to compete to be Carter Hart’s backup for the next season.

But on July 1 of that year, Fedotov was arrested in St. Petersburg, Russia, for evasion of military service. Following a trial, he was taken to a remote military base in northern Russia, reportedly Severomorsk, for training and to fulfill his one-year obligation. At the time, all able-bodied males in Russia between the ages of 18 and 27 were required to complete one year of military service.

After missing the entire 2022-23 season while serving in the Russian military, Fedotov returned to the KHL with CSKA Moscow, signing a two-year deal last summer. Then, he got stuck in the middle between the NHL and Russia’s top league.

The International Ice Hockey Federation ruled that Fedotov’s contract with the Red Army team violated international transfer regulations, given that he had already signed an NHL deal with the Flyers. After being banned from competing for his country for four months, Fedotov was suspended from international competition for an additional three years in May 2024.

Last season in the KHL, the netminder went 21-22-1 with a 2.37 GAA, .914 save percentage, and four shutouts. He posted a 2.57 GAA and .916 save percentage in the playoffs, which ended in early March 2024.

A few weeks later, after CSKA Moscow had terminated his contract a year early, he was in orange and black. Fedotov made his NHL debut in relief of Sam Ersson on April 1, 2024, and helped the Flyers earn a point against the New York Islanders amid the team’s playoff push.

“Definitely have a lot of respect for what he’s done,” Brière told The Inquirer on Tuesday. “Most of us who have played in the NHL, we’ve chased our dream, and you follow the steps, and, yeah, you have to work hard to get there. But the obstacles that he had to go through, it’s probably something that none of us growing up in North America would understand.”

Fedotov’s perseverance and dedication to hockey were tested this season, too.

After appearing twice more to close out the Flyers’ campaign last April, and signing a two-year, $6.5 million contract extension this summer, Fedotov opened the 2024-25 season as Ersson’s backup.

However, he started the season 0-3 with a 5.35 GAA and .821 save percentage behind a team giving up too many odd-man rushes and high-danger shots. He looked awkward and stiff and allowed several questionable goals. By the end of October, he was the odd man out in then-coach John Tortorella’s three-headed goalie rotation.

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It was not the last time.

“There’s a few times that it almost seemed like Torts had quit on him, and then a couple of 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,” captain Sean Couturier, the Flyers’ nominee last season, said of Fedotov. “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.”

Across the Flyers’ first 77 games, Fedotov has appeared in 25 and started 23. He earned his first NHL win, a 2-1 shootout victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Nov. 7, after Ersson and Aleksei Kolosov went down with injuries. It came 15 days after his previous start.

Back in Tortorella’s good graces, he was playing better and getting starts until Dec. 5, when he allowed two goals on seven shots in 20 minutes to the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

Fedotov was back to being No. 3.

“Not an easy thing to do as a goaltender, I’m sure. I think those guys rely a lot on just playing constantly, on being in a good groove,” defenseman Cam York said Saturday. “So it’s not an easy job. … To be able to do what he’s done, it’s pretty cool.”

And he did it with grace. As Brière noted, he “never pouted, never complained” when he was not seeing action in games or even equal practice time.

Fedotov did not start again until Jan. 5, when he snagged another point for the Flyers in an overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He supplanted Kolosov as the No. 2 and since then he has put together several notable performances.

One was a standout showing against the top team in the NHL. It was so impressive, interim coach Brad Shaw has often brought up that 29-save performance in the Flyers’ 2-1 shootout win against the Winnipeg Jets. On Tuesday, Shaw called it “about as good a game as I’ve seen a goalie play in a while.”

“It’s not easy, but you have to keep your focus. You have to be consistent, stay with your routine, and work hard,” Fedotov said about the gaps in starts. “Of course, sometimes you can be mad, inside yourself, because you want to play more, especially when you feel good. … When you have a lot of time, yeah, of course, you think about not very good things a lot sometimes, because it’s normal. You think [about] how you can improve.”

Fedotov has improved. Is he still awkward at times? Sure. Does he get a bit lucky at times? Absolutely. But he also uses his lanky body to make big stops — especially pad saves — and has minimized his movement in the crease. Amid a roller coaster of a season, Fedotov has posted an .881 save percentage across his 25 appearances.

It’s not easy switching countries and leagues. The challenges Matvei Michkov has faced this season coming over from the KHL have been discussed often. But the same goes for Fedotov, who also has had to get used to a longer season with constant travel. Add the differences in goalie equipment, ice size, and style of play, and it has been a significant adjustment.

“Obviously, we can’t really understand what he’s been through. We just kind of hear stories. He’s been through a lot,” defenseman Nick Seeler said recently. ”He’s had a ton of adversity to get to where he is, so [it] kind of shows what kind of character guy he is.”