Their ruling on Fedotov means that the 26-year-old will likely be coming over to North America in September for training camp with the Flyers and could either play for the big club in Philadelphia or their AHL affiliate, Lehigh Valley.
In addition to Fedotov's suspension, the IIHF has also decided to impose sanctions on his KHL club, CSKA Moscow, which includes a one-year ban (August 11th, 2023 to August 10th, 2024) on international transfers.
It'll be interesting to see how this could affect other NHL prospects who are playing in Russia but will be looking to come over to North America in the coming years, including Matvei Michkov, another Philadelphia Flyers draftee. Michkov is under contract in Russia until 2026, which was reportedly a big deterrent to teams in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, before the Flyers took him seventh overall. Michkov has expressed his desire to play in the NHL and with the Flyers, but with how Russia has dealt with Ivan Fedotov, it could be a tricky situation and something to keep our eyes on in the coming years.
