Pressed Their Luck

When Ivan Fedotov finally arrived in Philadelphia, the chapter of him playing illegally in Russia due to his contractual status with the Flyers seemed to be over. After all, the Flyers had signed him to a new deal, he seemed like he was going to get his shot with Carter Hart in his own legal hot water, and the Flyers desperately needed reliable goaltending if they were going to make a push for the playoffs. It almost worked, too, as the Flyers missed out on the playoffs in their final game of the season, but things were still churning behind the scenes for Fedotov when it came to how he ignored the IIHF's warnings about playing in the KHL. This weekend, the IIHF played the role of Whammy! on this real-life version of the TV game show Press Your Luck.

As per the IIHF's announcement this weekend, the IIHF came down pretty heavily on all the parties involved in the Fedotov-CSKA case. The only team that seemingly escaped punishment was the Philadelphia Flyers, so I'll credit the IIHF as they followed through with their threats of heavy penalties for the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, CSKA and the KHL, and Ivan Fedotov fairly well.

As a reminder, these penalties are being imposed on the above parties for their involvement in "violating the IIHF International Transfer Regulations (continuing to allow Fedotov to play without an approved international transfer) and, with respect to Fedotov, his continued violation of his NHL Standard Player Contract (SPC) with the Philadelphia Flyers."

The details are that Fedotov signed a deal with CSKA to play in the KHL while being under contract with the Flyers, and the Flyers filed a complaint with the IIHF for them to resolve the issue. These final penalties imposed this weekend should lay this matter to rest after CSKA terminated Fedotov's contract to make him a free agent, allowing him to sign a new deal with the Flyers. Up to speed? Good.

The IIHF ruled on Saturday that CSKA, who violated the transfer rule, would be sanctioned with "a twenty-four-month transfer ban on all international transfers that starts from the day the original one-year transfer ban concludes (August 11, 2024 until August 10, 2026)." In short, CSKA cannot sign international players until August 10, 2026 for failing to follow the rules.

The IIHF also ruled on Saturday that Ivan Fedotov receives a "a six-month suspension from playing at the club level (which shall be served upon his return from the NHL to any club under/within an IIHF Member National Federation jurisdiction)... for his continued violation of his SPC and complete disregard for the IIHF's original four-month suspension." In short, because Fedotov knew he was under contract with the Flyers and refused to comply with the IIHF's original suspension, he will be banned from playing for any international IIHF-affiliated club outside the NHL for six months once his NHL career ends. Under this ruling, it does not prevent Fedotov from being traded or signing as a free agent within the NHL.

The IIHF additionally ruled on Saturday that Ivan Fedotov receives "a three-year suspension... from playing in all IIHF Competitions as defined in Bylaw 1, which will include the Olympic Games." In short, Fedotov's refusal to follow the rules will keep him out of all IIHF-sanctioned international competitions until May 2027. He'll miss the Olympic Games in Italy plus all of the IIHF World Hockey Championships and any of the IIHF-NHL joint competitions such as the World Cup of Hockey.

Finally, the IIHF also ruled that the Russian Ice Hockey Federation (RIHF) would be fined "a 1,000,000 CHF (one million Swiss Francs) fine" for the transfer violations. For those wondering, that's a fine that is just short of $1.11 million USD or, in more appropriate Russian terms, 100,531,700 rubles. This last ruling might sting a little bit.

In response to these new sanctions handed down, no one should be surprised that "[t]he RIHF will challenge the decision in accordance with the established procedure." I'd be shocked if this challenge will do anything to reduce the sanctions, but you can't fault a country ran by a war-mongering dictator for trying, right?

In the past, I've been overly-critical of the IIHF and their Disciplinary Board for being far too lenient towards countries and players who break the rules of the game. With today's rulings that shuld ultimately close the book on Fedotov's transfer violations, they've shown some teeth in punishing both Fedotov and the RIHF harshly while CSKA's ability to attract talent has been seriously hindered. The Russians rolled the dice, though, and believed they could get away with whatever they pleased with little consequence, but they seemed to have pressed their luck a little too far. And like the gentleman on Press Your Luck above, they got "Whammied" hard this weekend by the IIHF.

I don't usually cheer for the IIHF, but I will today. Let the next country who feels they can do whatever they please with transfer violations take warning: the IIHF isn't playing games.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!