The sudden disappointment of a hope leaves a scar which the ultimate fulfillment of that hope never entirely removes." – Thomas Hardy
Season stats: 80 gp, 11g, 19a, 30p, -17, 50 PIMs
Playoff stats: 6 gp, 0g, 0a, 0p, -3, 6 PIMs
Month-by-month Pensburgh grades:
October: B-
November: C-
December: C-
January: B
February: D
March: B-
Playoffs: F
Contract status: Unrestricted free agent summer 2010 (had $1.8 million cap hit in 2009-10)
Interesting stat: Fedotenko scored 7 even strength goals in 24 playoff games in 2008-09. In 86 total games in 2009-10 he got 8 ES goals.
The Good: Once upon a time "Ruslan Fedotenko" hockey meant playing an aggressive style, hitting players, winning pucks from down low and along the walls. To some degree, Fedotenko did that. I tried to search for more good, but that's about all I could come up with.
The Not-so-good: Fedotenko played almost all season with Evgeni Malkin, last season's scoring champion, and managed 8 ES goals in 80 games. Say what you will about the plus/minus stat, but ‘Tenk's +/- was worst amongst forwards, and only two players were within 11 goals of him. No matter how you slice it, he was watching pucks go into the wrong net and creating virtually no offense. And short of Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz, Fedotenko got more ES + PP ice-time than any other forward other than the Big 3.
The playoffs were no better, as Fedotenko quickly relegated to healthy scratch status and only played a handful of minutes in 6 of the 13 Penguin playoff games. His Penguin playing days end with a whimper and leave fans with a negative memory, which is a shame for all he contributed last year in being a key player in the Cup run.
Final verdict: To understand just how far Fedotenko's fallen amongst Pens fans, one has to look back. Just last summer, coming off his strong playoff performance, I threw out an option to give Fedotenko a 6-7 year contract extension. Gulp, too bad that one will be on the internets forever. Now we just want Fedotenko gone.
Question and Discussion: Any circumstance in which you'd like to see Fedotenko return to the Penguins? Would you like to see the team try and sign him to a 6-7 year deal? (Just kidding).