The Philadelphia Flyers traded goaltender Ivan Fedotov to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday. In return, the Flyers received a sixth round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

Here’s a look at what the trade means for the Flyers and the player involved.

1. Goaltending logjam addressed

Last season, the Flyers had a three-goalie rotation for a significant part of the campaign. With the free agent addition of Dan Vladar this summer, the Flyers once again faced a goalie logjam at either the NHL level or with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL.

With the Fedotov trade, the depth chart is a bit more straightforward. Samuel Ersson and Vladar are the two probable NHL roster goalies (barring injury). Whether playing time is split roughly equally in a 1A/1B tandem arrangement or via a clear starter and backup remains to be seen in NHL camp and the regular season.

Meanwhile, Aleksei Kolosov now appears to be No. 3 on the depth chart. Cal Petersen, Parker Gahagen and now Fedotov have all departed from the Flyers/Phantoms since the end of 2024-25. Kolosov will have opportunities to show he belongs in the NHL. Whether via his play in Lehigh Valley dictating a callup or NHL injuries during the season, Kolosov is expected to get another chance to earn NHL playing time.

Twenty-year-old rookie Carson Bjarnason now has a spot in Lehigh Valley cleared out for him to begin his career. He’ll likely back up Kolosov to start the season. However, as the year progresses, performance will dictate the workload split between the two remaining Lehigh Valley netminders.

2. Salary cap relief

Fedotov enters the second and final season of his $3.275 million average annual value (AAV) contract. NHL rules would have only provided about $1.1 million off the Flyers’ cap if Fedotov had been waived and assigned to Lehigh Valley after clearing.

The Blue Jackets absorbed Fedotov’s remaining contract. As a result, the Flyers have more breathing room under the NHL’s cap ceiling. While it’s always possible that the 2026 Draft pick someday turns out to be a useful NHL player, the added cap space is an immediate benefit.

3. Fedotov will battle for playing time

The 6-foot-7 Russian netminder had a roller coaster season-plus with the Flyers. Fedotov now gets a fresh start with a different organization.

By the 2024-25 season, Fedotov’s grasp of English went from rusty and very basic to fluent. Flyers President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones said last week that he’s not going to write off Fedotov (or Kolosov) as a potential NHL roster candidate over the next year.

However, when the trade discussions with Columbus took shape, the Flyers had an opportunity to help their cap situation and alleviate the numbers game at the same time. Meanwhile, they provided a fresh start to a player who earned it through his work ethic and coachability.