Philadelphia Flyers prospect Ivan Fedotov, who was reportedly taken by law enforcement to Russia last week before he was brought to North America, is now believed to be at a remote military base north of Russia, his agent said on Tuesday.
Posted yesterday at 4:29 p.m.
JP Barry spoke to The Associated Press as speculation swirls over the goalkeeper’s wellbeing. This situation raises new concerns about whether Russian players will want or be able to join the National Hockey League teams that will draft them this week as the war in Ukraine continues.
The 25-year-old Fedotov is considered the best goalie in the world not to play in the NHL. The Flyers expected him to compete for a position on their roster next season.
Fedotov won silver with Russia at the Beijing Olympics in February and led CSKA Moscow to the Gagarin Cup in the KHL.
The Flyers drafted him in the seventh round of the 2015 draft, but he has since moved to Russia, while CSKA retained his rights. The NHL and KHL do not have a transfer agreement and Fedotov was able to sign a contract with the Flyers in May only because he did not have a valid contract in Russia for the next season.
CSKA, whose name translates to “Central Army Sports Club,” was founded as the Soviet Army’s hockey club in 1946 and still maintains ties with the armed forces.
The first signs of trouble for Fedotov came on Friday. Russian media reported that he was caught by law enforcement outside an arena in St. Petersburg, where he was filming a documentary with a film crew. He was reportedly taken to an Army recruiting centre. The Fontaka site reports that he was suspected of wanting to escape compulsory military service for all men in Russia.
Alexei Ponomaryov, a lawyer representing Fedotov, told Russian news agency RIA Novosti on Saturday that his client had been taken to a military hospital due to stress-induced gastritis. Ponomaryov added that neither he nor Fedotov’s family was able to visit him.
The Russian Defense Ministry has not commented on Fedotov’s whereabouts. The Russian newspaper Sports Express released what it claims are snaps of Fedotov at the military base in Severodvinsk, a naval city with several shipyards on Russia’s northern coast, on Monday. Conflicting reports about his whereabouts have however been published.
“We have a law-abiding mobilization policy, so any emotional comments would be completely inappropriate,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday when asked about Fedotov’s situation. There are certain reasons, different ways that allow athletes to postpone their military service. »
Russia was planning to subscribe to conscription to enlist 130,000 men for one year of military service this spring. The law instead allows for 21 months of public service — in hospitals, for example — for those who oppose military service, but such requests can often be ignored. In theory, Russians can be conscripted between the ages of 18 and 27, although some never serve in the army.
Russians often seek to avoid conscription through medical or education exemptions. Athletes do the same. Some arrange with academic institutions to enroll in distance programs offering year-round training during their athletic career.
The Russian Armed Forces also have special units for top athletes that allow them to continue participating in competitions while performing their military service. The Ministry of Defense has also mentioned the names of several athletes who participated in various sports at the last Olympic Games and who are ranked.
The NHL and Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher said the team is aware and is trying to find out more. As recently as last week, Fletcher expected Fedotov to be on the next side of his side.