With the Rick Nash sweepstakes still in a holding pattern, the Rangers waited and watched yesterday as free agent forward Ruslan Fedotenko signed with the rival Flyers for one year and $1.75 million.
Fedotenko had spent the past two years on Broadway, but he was pretty much shown the door when the Rangers signed Arron Asham last week to a two-year, $2 million deal. Nash is the star power forward whom the Rangers are in hot pursuit of but is still being held captive by the high demands of Blue Jackets’ general manager Scott Howson.
The reason the signing of the 34-year-old Asham axed the 33-year-old Fedotenko is because both play a similar style of game, which is to say they are not scoring forwards and earn their money by killing penalties and being physical.
“We’ve actually tried to sign Ruslan a couple times over the last few years and we’ve always missed out,” Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said on a conference call, referring to the two consecutive one-year deals Fedotenko had with the Rangers.
“I like him,” Holmgren said. “I think he’s going to bring a lot to our team in terms of leadership, and I think he’s a winner, I really do.”
Fedotenko has won the Stanley Cup twice, once with current Rangers coach John Tortorella in Tampa Bay in 2004 and once as a member of the Penguins in 2009. Last regular season, he had nine goals and 11 assists in 73 games while suffering a concussion in the middle of the year.
Yet during the playoffs, Fedotenko’s worth and leadership was apparent, as he had two goals and seven points in 20 games. He took the team’s loss to the Devils in the Eastern Conference finals very hard, stating that he honestly thought that team was going to win it all.
The Flyers also signed former Islanders defenseman Bruno Gervais, while they lost future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr, who signed a deal with the Stars.
The Rangers also added undrafted 22-year-old forward Kyle Jean, who played in 39 games with Lake Superior State University last season.
* Anton Stralman opted for salary arbitration last night, meaning the defenseman, who turns 26 on Aug. 1, almost assuredly will return to the Rangers for a multi-year deal. Stralman finished the season playing on the second pair, along with the power play, and had been considering returning to his native Sweden, heavily leaning that way when the season ended.