NHL and union agree on action if goaltender Fedotov doesn’t come to Philadelphia’s camp because of the army

The National Hockey League (NHL) and the players’ union (NHLPA) have worked out a decision regarding the situation with Russian goaltender Ivan Fedotov, Match TV reports.

In the 2021/22 season, Fedotov won the Gagarin Cup as part of CSKA Moscow, and in May he signed a contract with the Philadelphia Flyers NHL club. In early July, Fedotov was detained in St. Petersburg on suspicion of evading military service, and later the athlete was taken to Severodvinsk. The hockey player filed a lawsuit against the draft board of St. Petersburg, a preliminary meeting will be held on September 20.

– There is already an agreement between the NHL and the players’ union (NHLPA) that if Fedotov is forced to serve in the army for a year and he does not arrive at the Philadelphia camp on September 20, then the team can freeze his contact for one year. And if Ivan wants to come in a year, the club will not lose the right to him. That is, the player will not need to go through a waiver draft, where he could be picked up by another club. This is the case when the NHL and NHLPA easily and unanimously agreed on a specific issue, – Match TV quotes the words of a source familiar with the situation.

Also, according to Match TV, an option has appeared in which CSKA will sign a contract with Fedotov for several years and immediately exchange him for goalkeeper Alexander Samonov in St. Petersburg SKA. In order for this deal to go through, Philadelphia must freeze Fedotov’s contract.

Thus, Fedotov will be able to play and serve in the army in his hometown of St. Petersburg. At the same time, according to a source, CSKA goalkeeper coach Sergei Naumov likes the candidacy of SKA goalkeeper Samonov, last season they worked together at the Russian stage of the Eurotour and the Olympics.