Ruslan Fedotenko is back in the mix.
On Tuesday, the Iowa Wild -- Minnesota’s American League affiliate -- announced they signed the veteran NHLer to a professional tryout.
Fedotenko, 36, was last seen playing for the New Jersey Devils during training camp and the exhibition season, failing to score a contract for this season. A veteran of nearly 900 NHL games with the Flyers, Lightning, Islanders, Penguins and Rangers, Fedotenko was looking to get back to North America this season after spending last year playing for HC Donbass, a Ukrainian-based KHL club that suspended operations this season.
It’ll be interesting to see how this PTO plays out. Though he’s a little long in the tooth, Fedotenko is a two-time Stanley Cup champion that had four goals and 13 points for the Flyers during the lockout-shortened ’13 campaign.
Some insight, from Mike Russo of the Star-Tribune:
The two-time Cup champ wants to make an NHL comeback somewhere and GM Chuck Fletcher is letting the good citizen play in Iowa to mostly be a good influence on the kids. But it seems doubtful that Fedotenko, whose wife is from the area, will be a fit at some point with Minnesota. He hasn’t played all year, but maybe the 36-year-old will latch on somewhere at some point.