Ruslan Fedotenko

Ruslan Fedotenko
Fedotenko pictured during his tenure as a member of the Rangers.
Born January 18, 1979
Kiev, Ukraine
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shoots Left
AHL team
Former teams 		Iowa Wild
Sokil Kyiv (IHL)
Philadelphia Flyers
Tampa Bay Lightning
New York Islanders
Pittsburgh Penguins
New York Rangers
HC Donbass (KHL)
National team  Ukraine
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 1995–present

Ruslan Viktorovych Fedotenko (Ukrainian: Руслан Вікторович Федотенко; born January 18, 1979) is an Ukrainian professional ice hockey winger, currently playing for the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League (AHL) on a professional try out contract.

A two-time Stanley Cup champion, in his NHL career he has played for the Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Rangers. Internationally, Fedotenko has competed for Ukraine in the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Playing career

Fedotenko with the Penguins.

Fedotenko went undrafted and first entered the NHL after being signed by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1999. After two seasons with the Flyers, he was traded in 2002 to the Tampa Bay Lightning, along with two second round draft picks, in exchange for Tampa Bay's first round draft pick, which was used to draft Joni Pitkänen.

In 2004, Fedotenko won his first Stanley Cup, scoring the championship-winning goal in game seven of the finals against the Calgary Flames. It was Tampa Bay's first Stanley Cup in franchise history. After a career-high 26-goal, 41-point campaign in 2005–06, Fedotenko was re-signed as a restricted free agent in July 2006 to a one-year contract worth $1.65 million.[1]

Following his fourth season in Tampa Bay, Fedotenko signed a one-year, $2.9 contract with the New York Islanders in July 2007, joining Mike Comrie and Bill Guerin as the Islanders' free agent acquisitions. He scored 33 points in his first and only season with the Islanders.

The following off-season, Fedotenko signed his third consecutive one-year contract, a $2.25 million deal with Pittsburgh Penguins in July 2008. Fedotenko neared career-high totals with 39 points in 67 games, benefiting as a winger on a talented Penguins team that featured centers Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal. He went on to tally 14 points in 24 post-season games with the Penguins in 2009, capturing his second career Stanley Cup as Pittsburgh defeated the Detroit Red Wings in seven games. After becoming an unrestricted free agent in July 2009, Fedotenko took a pay cut and agreed to a one-year, $1.8 million contract to remain with the Penguins.

On September 10, 2010, Fedotenko accepted a try-out with the New York Rangers. After an impressive preseason, the Rangers signed Fedotenko to a one-year $1 million deal on October 4, 2010.[2]

On July 1, 2011, Fedotenko resigned with the New York Rangers, Fedotenko accepted a one-year, $1.4 million contract.

On July 5, 2012, Fedotenko returned to the team that he started his NHL career with and signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Flyers for $1.75 million. During the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Fedotenko played for the Kontinental Hockey League's HC Donbass. Following the 2012–13 NHL season, Fedotenko signed a three-year, $9 million contract with Donbass.[3]

On January 20, 2015, Fedotenko signed a professional try out contract with the Iowa Wild.[4]

International play

Fedotenko has played internationally for the Ukrainian national ice hockey team, appearing in one game for his nation at the 2002 Winter Olympics in a 5-2 defeat of Switzerland.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1995–96 Sokil Kyiv RSL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1998–99 Sioux City Musketeers USHL 55 43 34 77 139 5 5 1 6 9
1999–00 Trenton Titans ECHL 8 5 3 8 9 — — — — —
1999–00 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 67 16 34 50 42 2 0 0 0 0
2000–01 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 8 1 0 1 8 — — — — —
2000–01 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 74 16 20 36 72 6 0 1 1 4
2001–02 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 78 17 9 26 43 5 1 0 1 2
2002–03 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 76 19 13 32 44 11 0 1 1 2
2003–04 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 77 17 22 39 30 22 12 2 14 14
2005–06 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 80 26 15 41 44 5 0 0 0 20
2006–07 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 80 12 20 32 52 4 0 0 0 4
2007–08 New York Islanders NHL 67 16 17 33 40 — — — — —
2008–09 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 65 16 23 39 44 24 7 7 14 4
2009–10 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 80 11 19 30 50 6 0 0 0 4
2010–11 New York Rangers NHL 66 10 15 25 25 5 0 2 2 4
2011–12 New York Rangers NHL 73 9 11 20 16 20 2 5 7 8
2012–13 HC Donbass KHL 33 8 10 18 22 — — — — —
2012–13 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 47 4 9 13 12 — — — — —
2013–14 HC Donbass KHL 46 7 10 17 42 13 0 6 6 35
NHL totals 863 173 193 366 472 108 22 18 40 66

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2002 Ukraine OG 10th 1 1 0 1 4
Senior int'l totals 1 1 0 1 4

Personal

Fedotenko has a tattoo of 2 Stanley Cups on his shoulder. He has no permanent residence, often moving to where he plays. He has a wife and three children.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Lightning ink Fedotenko to one-year deal". TSN.ca. 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-28.
  2. ↑ "Fedotenko agrees to terms on contract". New York Rangers. 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-04.
  3. ↑ "Ruslan Fedotenko returned to Donetsk" (in Russian). HC Donbass. July 2, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Iowa signs former Stanley Cup champ Fedotenko". American Hockey League. January 20, 2015. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
  5. ↑ http://www.sokol.kiev.ua/page-id-5420.html

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ruslan Fedotenko.