When the Isles originally signed Ruslan Fedotenko, I thought that there was an honest to god shot that he would be able to net 25 goals. Years of playing second fiddle to players like Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis can light a fire under a player’s dairy-air, especially one with the feisty on-ice persona of Fedotenko. However, despite a few hot streaks during the course of the season, Fedotenko proved why the Flyers gave up on him and Tampa Bay let him leave via free agency. He’s not a first line player and at this point in his career, he’s is a depth signing: a player that can be depended on 15-20 goals and 35 points… nothing less, nothing more.

It’s sad that the Islanders had to spend nearly three million dollars this season to find that out. Unlike Josef Vasicek, who the Islanders didn’t spend much money on [and who had a much better season than “Tank”], Fedotenko got first star treatment with the Islanders. He was at the pres conference where guys like Bill Guerin and Mike Comrie promised a rejuvenated team that was sick of being mediocre. However, after the first dozen games or so of the season, Fedotenko virtually disappeared.

Over his first 14 games with the team, he had five goals and 11 points. That basically put him on pace for a career year, netting a solid 25-30 goals and adding close to 35 assists. If that would have been the case I would have been extremely pleased. However, the total opposite happened.

Over the next 36 games he played in, he only had three goals and 13 points. Talk about invisible. I know he was playing injured for some of that time, but still, this guy was brought in to score goals and that simply wasn’t happening. After he came back from a few games missed due to injury, he did get better, but again, at that point, the Isles were already finished and it was too little, too late.

Sure, Fedotenko netted seven goals and nine points over his last 17 games of the season, but that’s what happens when you realize you only have a one-year contract and you want to play another year in the NHL. With that sense of desperation, Fedotenko was a more than serviceable player. However, getting him to play at that kind of level is nearly impossible for a coach. He has to be the one to motivate himself and get going at more of a consistent basis. He has the nose for the puck and hands where he could be a consistent 20-goal scorer in this league.

It remains to be seen if that will ever happen though.

Posted under Isles Thoughts 2008