Disturbing update on Ivan Fedotov.

The horrifying tale of Ivan Fedotov has taken yet another dark turn, and this time it would appear to confirm that we are not likely to see the Finnish-Russian goaltender in North America any time soon.

According to Russian hockey analyst Slava Malamud, Russian outlet TASS is now reporting that Fedotov is likely to be shipped off to an Arctic outpost in retaliation for his attempt to leave Kontinental Hockey League team CSKA Moscow. That outpost is believed to be Novaya Zemlya, an archipelago that is quite literally situated in the Arctic Ocean. This is also a very sparsely populated area with less than 4.000 inhabitants according to the latest data from 2021.

Although this has not been confirmed, Malamud is speculating that all of this has been arranged by Igor Sechin, the owner of CSKA Moscow and a known associate of Vladimir Putin, as retaliation for Fedotov's attempt to leave the KHL.

It was announced back in May of this year that Fedotov had agreed to a contract with the Philadelphia Flyers, a team that drafted him all the way back at the 2015 National Hockey League Entry Draft. It appears as though Fedotov would have informed the coaching staff of CSKA Moscow of his intent to leave the team and leave Russia altogether, which in turn has no led to this.

To make matters worse there are legitimate concerns about how Fedotov is being treated by authorities since he was detained by military police in Russia. Fedotov reportedly fell ill while being detained and, according to at least one reporter, even believes he may have been poisoned. Who knows what may happen to him if he is indeed shipped out to such a remote outpost.

While I'm sure the Flyers would love to bring Fedotov over to North America the reality is that they are likely powerless to influence the decision of the Russian government, especially at such a tumultuous time given the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. 

Stay tuned as we will be bringing you all of the details on this story as it continues to develop.