The winner of the last two KHL championships and current holders of the Gagarin Cup, CSKA, started the training process earlier this week. According to the established tradition, the team of Sergei Fedorov is one of the last (this year they decided to argue with him in Torpedo for this right) went on vacation and began to prepare for the new season. The Moscow army team held the first ice lesson on Tuesday, August 1, and an open training session for representatives of the media was held today.
Of course, goalkeeper Ivan Fedotov, who was returning to hockey after a year-long forced downtime, was in the spotlight of the assembled journalists. The 26-year-old goalkeeper, who served in the military, signed a contract with CSKA in the offseason, which is now the subject of discussion on both sides of the ocean. The fact is that before entering the army, a year ago, the Russian goalkeeper signed a rookie contract with the NHL club Philadelphia Flyers.
The Flyers and the league argue that since Fedotov missed the entire season, the original one-year contract he signed in May 2022 should not be considered expired until July of the following year, as he never met the terms of the deal. Due to the natural lack of showing up at the location of the “pilots”, the American team took advantage of the clause of the NHL regulations and postponed the validity of Fedotov’s contract for the 2023/2024 season. What is now being discussed by the army club’s lawyers, confident that since Iván signed an exclusive contract for the 2022/2023 season, he is now free of legal obligations to the Flyers. However, the American club categorically disagrees with this position.
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And in this situation, “Philadelphia” really seems to be following the principle. A Russian who missed a year could, at best, start the NHL season at a farm club, and only under an incredibly ideal set of circumstances could he expect to be called up after some time. After serving in the army, Fedotov will almost certainly not bring real benefits to the “pilots”, but they clearly do not want to create a precedent in America. Therefore, Ivan is not exposed to an unconditional draft refusal to terminate the contract: the Flyers want to hear the position of the IIHF.
Less than a month later, on September 1, Fedorov’s charges will open the new KHL season with an Opening Cup match with Ak Bars Kazan, but now no one has full confidence that Fedotov will defend CSKA in this match. No one, except for the president of the army club, Igor Esmantovich. Today, the official made a new statement on the current situation, again declaring full confidence in his innocence.
“Is there a possibility that Ivan Fedotov will go to the NHL? No, it’s out of the question, our lawyers are working. There will come a time when the International Ice Hockey Federation realizes that the contract with Philadelphia has no legal force,” TASS quoted Esmantovich as saying.
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Fedotov himself naturally avoided discussing the legal details of the matter. “How do you manage to abstract yourself from the publicity about the contract? I just go out on the ice, mind my own business, spend more time on the arena, don’t go online, don’t read unnecessary information. It’s not my concern, my job is to be okay. Everyone does their own thing, the agent has his own activities, I have mine, ”TASS quotes Fedotov.
The question of the two contracts for the Russian goalkeeper must now be decided by the International Ice Hockey Federation. It was on this that the Russian Hockey Federation emphasized in a statement a few weeks ago, saying that Fedotov would not be allowed to participate in the championship without the corresponding IIHF sanction.
Recall that it is the FHR that transfers the right to host the championship to the KHL, and the Russian national federation itself is an active member of the IIHF. From then on, no one excluded us, despite the suspension of international tournaments, so no one will come into conflict with the IIHF. That’s just the international federation itself continues to pull the rubber, if not to use a more well-known expression.
Initially, the head of the organization, Luc Tardif, said that a decision on the “Fedotov case” would be made before the end of last week. Now it is Wednesday, but there is no solution. Also, according to new information, he won’t appear even before the end of this week. Tardif himself announced it today in a comment for the “Championship”.
“When will a decision be made on the situation with Fedotov? The discussion is still ongoing. Nothing will happen before next week,” Tardif said.
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Thus, CSKA and Fedotov remain in limbo. In addition, Ivan in this situation is much easier than his club. His American agent JP Barry has already said that the 26-year-old Russian will calmly accept any IIHF decision. If the International Federation decides that the goalkeeper must comply with the North American contract, then in this case he will go to America.
With such a scenario development, CSKA may find itself in an extremely unpleasant situation, because the first number of last year’s army club, Adam Reideborn, signed a contract in Switzerland a long time ago, and it will be incredibly difficult to find a foreign goalkeeper on the market. now. On the subject of goalkeeping, the Army team put everything on Fedotov. And now they need a positive decision from the IIHF. Otherwise, CSKA’s situation will be a stalemate.
