The Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets were involved in a trade on Sunday morning. The Philadelphia Flyers traded goaltender Ivan Fedotov of Lappeenranta, Finland to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a sixth round pick in the 2026 National Hockey League Entry Draft.
Trade Grades
Fedotov joins goaltenders Jet Greaves of Cambridge, Ontario and Elvis Merzlikins of Riga, Latvia in Columbus. It appears that Fedotov will not be in the Blue Jackets mix when it comes to goaltending this season, as Greaves and Merzlikins are simply better. So don’t be surprised if Fedotov becomes the regular goaltender for the Cleveland Monsters in the American Hockey League.
There is also a possibility that the Flyers might still be interested in bringing back goaltender Carter Hart of Edmonton, Alberta, who was recently acquitted in the high profile sexual assault case in London, Ontario. The top two goalies currently on the Flyers roster are Samuel Ersson of Falun, Sweden and Dan Vladar of Prague, Czech Republic.
My trade grade for the Flyers in this transaction is a B-. It is respectable that they got something for a third string goalie that was possibly not in their long term plans. My grade for the Blue Jackets is C. Fedotov does not appear to be a difference maker for the Blue Jackets this season and will provide Columbus with depth and insurance if anything happens to Greaves and Merzlikins.
Fedotov’s statistics
Fedotov played the last two seasons with the Flyers. In 2023-24, he played in only three games, and only had one decision as he had a loss. Fedotov’s goals against average that season was 4.95 and his save percentage was .811.
In 2024-25, Fedotov showed signs of improvement. He had a record of six wins, 13 regulation losses, and four losses in extra time. Fedotov had a goals against average of 3.15 and a save percentage of .880.
Russian despite being born in Finland
Fedotov has Finnish heritage on his mother’s side and considers himself Russian despite being born in Finland. His father is also Russian.
At the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, Fedotov won a silver medal while as a member of the ROC (the Russian Olympic Committee). Ironically, it was Finland that beat the ROC in the gold medal game by a score of 2-1. It was the first time ever that Finland won the gold medal in men’s hockey at the Olympic Winter Games.
