All week leading up to July 1, we’ll be profiling unrestricted free agents and speculating where they might end up.
Ruslan Fedotenko (LW)
Age: 33
2011-12 cap hit: $1.4 million
The skinny: He’s not flashy, he just gets the job done. Fedotenko is your prototypical third/fourth line winger in that he defends well and just does the job he’s supposed to. He did great as a penalty killer for the Rangers and he’ll score the occasional goal. At 33 he’s a two-time Stanley Cup winner with Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh so he gives you that veteran leadership a contending or young team needs to grow up a bit.
With Fedotenko a team is getting a classic grind-line type of guy. If there are teams in search of bottom-six forwards to fill out the roster and make life easier on their goalies and improve the PK, Fedotenko’s phone will be ringing.