On July 10, 2023, the RIHF (Russian Ice Hockey Federation) put out a statement stating they would be looking into Ivan Fedotov’s contract with the Flyers. For a summary of the whole situation, in case you need a refresher, check out this article. The RIHF brought in the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) to help with the investigation. Today, August 14, over a month after the statement, the IIHF helped rule that Fedotov’s contract with the Flyers was valid. That should’ve been the end of it right? That would make this situation too simple. I will break down what’s come out since this morning’s news.
In terms of Ivan Fedotov, he has been suspended for four months, from September 1 to December 31, from international and KHL games. This is due to him not fulfilling one of two things in a two-week period after the decision was handed out: either returning to his valid club, the Flyers, or getting his NHL contract terminated. This seems weird and the verbiage from the IIHF’s official statement sounds odd if we assume the decision was made today. It sounds like the decision was made at least two weeks ago and that Fedotov did not comply with either option.
KHL Vice President, Valery Kamensky, has even stated that this could lead to the KHL suspending its connection with the IIHF. He was quoted as saying “The decision is wrong. We must suspend cooperation with the IIHF until we are allowed to compete internationally. We need to develop our hockey and negotiate directly with the NHL clubs. Both the KHL and Russian Hockey Federation should directly contact the NHL”.
CSKA has put out a statement and then re-released it with more context basically saying that they find the IIHF’s ruling to be biased and that Fedotov is getting ready for a game. They also mentioned that they expect Fedotov to play for them this season.
This leaves the whole situation up in the air and makes it very confusing to know exactly what is going on. All of this seems to indicate that CSKA does not intend to allow Fedotov to leave Russian and play for the Flyers and that the KHL, maybe all of Russian hockey, believes they should suspend their cooperation with IIHF.
The RIHF released a statement in which the RIHF appears to be following the next steps that the IIHF has implemented. They have said that the contract with CSKA is a violation and that CSKA has seven days to submit their plan of action. The plans of action pretty much boil down to (1) sending Fedotov to Philly, (2) trying to get the Flyers to loan him or terminate the contract, or (3) appealing. The RIHF said that they will give CSKA their full support if they appeal, which is to be expected.
What Does This Mean For Russian Prospects
The biggest part about all of this is the IIHF’s transfer agreement. It appears the KHL does not want to comply, which could have dire consequences for the Flyers and other NHL teams. It should be noted that neither the Flyers nor the NHL initiated this investigation, but that RIHF itself initiated the investigation and the inclusion of the IIHF, according to the RIHF statement from July 10. The Flyers just signed goaltender Alexei Kolosov to a contract and the Flyers, along with Kolosov, expect him to be in Philly for the 2024-25 season. While Kolosov is Belrussian, and the team he plays for is in Belarus, he’s still playing in the KHL. The fallout is yet to be known, but the bigger question comes into play: how will this affect Matvei Michkov.
At first, when just the decision was made public, there seemed to be no extra hurdles this would cause, on the surface level. Michkov plays for a different team that is privately owned, as opposed to Fedotov’s KHL club which is owned by the Russian military. We saw notable Russian prospect Ivan Miroshnichenko terminate his contract with Avangard Omsk back in May, then sign his ELC with the Capitals. Along with that, SKA officials had mentioned that they would be fine sending Michkov over to the NHL, but when they believe he’s ready to play top-six minutes and that he won’t be put in a position not to succeed and especially not sending him over if he’s just going to play in the AHL. You can read the excerpt from The Athletic in that first link in this article, the one that goes to the Flyers vs Russia article. With all that said, Michkov probably still comes over when SKA feels he is ready to be put in his best position, most likely a top-six position with power play time.
Where the water gets murky is if all of Russian hockey, or at least the KHL really does suspend its cooperation with the IIHF. That would mean they aren’t abiding by the transfer agreements, though that’s already being said they won’t be. This would mean that all international transfers with Russia are completely up in the air, and teams will be more cautious when dealing with KHL teams because there will always be that threat that the player won’t be allowed to leave.
This could also lead to a decline in Russian prospects playing in the KHL. A top Russian prospect in the 2024 NHL Draft, Artyum Levshunov, is playing for Michigan State University this upcoming season, and we’ve seen top Russian prospects play outside of Russia. Ivan Provorov played for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL, Pavel Mintyukov played for the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL, Andrei Svechnikov played for the Barrie Colts of the OHL, Alexander Alexeyev played for the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL, Mikhail Sergachev played for the Windsor Spirtfires of the OHL, Evgeny Svechnikov played for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the QMJHL, Nikita Scherbak played. for the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL, Nickolay Goldobin played for the Sarnia Sting of the OHL, and Nikita Zadorov played for the London Knights of the OHL. All of those players listed were Russians drafted in the first round in the past ten years.
If I could add my opinion to all this, I would say that the KHL suspending cooperation with IIHF is the absolute worst outcome for them. It would fully decimate foreign players to the KHL, and would lead to a lot of ill will on the international stage. It also appears that the RIHF are not backing CSKA violating IIHF rules and do not want the KHL to anger the IIHF more since it will lead to more sanctions against Russian hockey. The KHL is playing a dangerous game, and they’re very outmatched.
By Noah Caplan (Phlyers24)
Photo creds: Len Redkoles
brotherlypuck.com 