Flyers ink goalie Fedotov to 2-year, $6.5M deal
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Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
The Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday signed goaltender Ivan Fedotov to a two-year contract, keeping him out of free agency this offseason.
Fedotov, 27, will have a $3.25 million cap hit.
The Flyers waited nine years for the 6-foot-6 goaltender to leave Russia and join the NHL. Fedotov was selected 18th overall in the 2015 draft but remained with the Kontinental Hockey League for the next eight seasons.
Fedotov signed a deal with the Flyers in May 2022 but his attempt to come to North America that summer was thwarted when Russian authorities took him to a remote military base in the Arctic Circle for a year of service. After completing that service, he signed a two-year deal with CSKA of the KHL. That allowed the Flyers to toll his contract to this season.
After CSKA was eliminated from the Gagarin Cup playoffs, the team announced it had terminated the final year of his KHL contract but retained his Russian league rights. Fedotov finally arrived in the NHL and made his debut April 1. He appeared in three games for the Flyers last season, going 0-1-1 with an .811 save percentage.
Flyers general manager Danny Briere declined to offer specifics on how the team was able to get Fedotov over from Russia.
“He’s been through a lot in his career. He’s been through a lot in his personal life. It’s a big part of the reason why we feel comfortable. We’re excited to have him aboard,” he said in March.
The Flyers now have their goaltending tandem secured for 2024-25, with Fedotov joining 24-year-old Samuel Ersson, who also earned an extension through 2026.
Ersson played 51 games for the Flyers, who were eliminated from the playoffs in the last week of the regular season. Previous starting goalie Carter Hart took an indefinite leave of absence from the team and was one of four NHL players charged with sexual assault in London, Ontario, in January.
The London Police Department launched an investigation in 2022 after TSN reported that Hockey Canada had settled a lawsuit with a woman who said she was sexually assaulted by eight members of that team after a gala celebrating their gold medal win at the 2018 world junior championships.
Hart is a restricted free agent.
BOSTON — Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas suffered a ruptured tendon in his left knee and is out for the remainder of the season, the team said.
The 25-year-old Casas ruptured his patellar tendon running to first on a slow roller up the line and fell awkwardly in Boston’s victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night. After laying on his back in pain — not moving the knee — he was carted off on a stretcher before being taken to a Boston hospital.
The team announced Sunday that he had surgery for a left patellar tendon repair at Massachusetts General Hospital. The surgery was performed by Dr. Eric Berkson.
“I talked to him last night,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said in a news conference on Saturday discussing the injury outside Boston’s clubhouse. “We exchanged text messages [Saturday]. We all care deeply about just his overall wellbeing.”
Manager Alex Cora said Casas worked hard during the offseason to play every day after missing a large amount of last year with torn cartilage in his rib cage.
“He did an outstanding job in the offseason to put himself in that situation. It didn’t start the way he wanted it to,” Cora said of Casas’ struggles. “He was going to play and play a lot. Now we’ve got to focus on the rehab after the surgery and hopefully get him back stronger than ever and ready to go next year.”
Casas batted just .182 with three homers and 11 RBIs, but Breslow said his loss will be felt, especially with the team’s lack of depth at the position.
“He certainly struggled through the first month of the season but that didn’t change what we believe his production was capable of being,” Breslow said. “It’s a big loss. In addition to what we think we were going to get on the offensive side, he was kind of like a stabilizing presence on the defensive side of the field — also a big personality and a big part of the clubhouse.”
During spring training, Casas talked about how his focus at the plate this season was being more relaxed.
“You really want it until you don’t,” he said, explaining his thoughts while standing at his locker. “Then you can’t want it that much.”
Now, he’ll have to focus on his recovery plan for next season.
Casas, a left-handed batter, was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday with infielder/outfielder Abraham Toro selected from Triple-A Worcester.
Cora said Toro — a switch-hitter — will split time at first along with Romy Gonzalez. who bats right-handed.
Breslow said the team might be exploring a long-term replacement.
“This is unfortunately an opportunity to explore what’s available,” he said. “We’ll look both internally and outside as well.”
Cora said there are no plans to move Rafael Devers, who was replaced at third by offseason free-agent acquisition Alex Bregman and moved to DH.
“We asked him to do something in spring training that in the beginning he didn’t agree with it and now he’s very comfortable doing what he’s doing,” Cora said. “Like I told you guys in spring training, he’s my DH.”
TORONTO — Cleveland Guardians star Jose Ramirez was back in the lineup for Sunday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, two days after the third baseman left in the third inning because of a mild right ankle sprain.
The six-time All-Star was injured when he stumbled and fell while crossing first base on an infield single. Ramirez went down after being struck in the back by a throw from Blue Jays right-hander Chris Bassitt.
Ramirez was batting third Sunday against right-hander Bowden Francis.
Ramírez sat out Saturday when Cleveland beat Toronto 5-3. He went 2 for 2 before departing Friday, boosting his average to .274. He has five home runs and 15 RBIs in 31 games.
In last Thursday’s 4-3 victory over Minnesota, Ramirez became the first primary third baseman to reach 250 homers and 250 stolen bases.
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