The Philadelphia Flyers now have the tallest goaltender in NHL history, as Ivan Fedotov made his NHL debut in the second period of their game against the New York Islanders. After Samuel Ersson allowed two goals on six shots, the Flyers decided to pull him in place of Fedotov.
Fedotov is a 27-year-old, 6-foot-8, 212-pound goalie who was born in Lappeenranta, Finland. He was drafted by the Flyers in the seventh round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft at 188th overall. This season, Fedotov played in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) with CSKA Moskva before terminating his deal and joining the Flyers, where he posted a 2.37 goals-against-average (GAA) and a .914 save percentage (SV%) through 44 games.
Related: Goalie Ivan Fedotov Leaving KHL; Likely to Sign With the Flyers
The Flyers are pushing for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and coming into the game tonight, they sit in the second wild-card spot with a two-point gap on the Detroit Red Wings, and seven games remaining in the regular season. It’s no surprise that head coach John Tortorella is being strict with his players, even his goaltenders, as he tries to continue helping lead the Flyers back to the postseason.
There is some real hope that Fedotov can be the Flyers’ goaltender of the future, and he has earned his opportunity to showcase himself with the Flyers to finish off the 2023-24 regular season.