Flyers’ Ivan Fedotov makes NHL debut, ties record for tallest goalie at 6-foot-7

Ivan Fedotov made his NHL debut on Monday night, replacing Samuel Ersson in goal for the Philadelphia Flyers in the second period of their game against the New York Islanders.

With his NHL career officially begun, he is now tied with Ben Bishop for the tallest netminder to ever play in the league at 6-foot-7.

It wouldn’t take long for the 27-year-old Russian netminder to make his first-career save, stopping a breakaway chance by Islanders’ forward Mat Barzal five minutes into the second period.

As per Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis, Fedotov joined the Flyers last week after his previous club, CSKA Moscow in the KHL, ended his contract with a year left on it.

Fedotov originally signed a contract with the Flyers ahead of the 2022-23 season. Last year, he was detained in Russia for allegedly attempting to evade military service and was unable to join the Flyers.

His deal was moved over for the 2023-24 season, with the belief that he’d be ready to serve as backup this year.

Instead, he signed a two-year deal with CSKA Moscow of the KHL, a move that the IIHF immediately sanctioned the team and the player for. Fedotov was banned from national and international games with Russia, which was also to include him sitting out KHL games.

Despite this, Fedotov continued to play with CSKA, registering a 21-22-1 record en route to a first-round playoff elimination.

Going into the night, the Flyers are 36-29-10 with 82 points, holding onto the No. 2 Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. They’re just two points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings and five ahead of the Islanders, who both have games in hand on the Flyers.