The Rangers announced today that the following five players have been assigned to Hartford: goalie Chad Johnson, defenseman Wade Redden and forwards Evgeny Grachev, Dale Weise and Mats Zuccarello. In addition, forwards Dane Byers, Kris Newbury and Jeremy Williams will continue training camp with Hartford, while defensemen Garnet Exelby, Brandon Manning and Alexei Semenov have been released from their tryout agreement.
It’s not surprising that Redden is going to Hartford.
He could have gone to Europe or chose to retire, but I believe with both options Redden would forefit the money that his contract dictates he should receive.
Playing in Hartford, Reds still receives his $6+ million dollar salary while essentially playing with terrible players and future stars. Wade’s got it made in the shade.
He’s got no pressure to perform (where else can they send him?). He could be -75 with no points and still make his money.
And Glen Sather has guarenteed the former top tier blueliner playing time.
Redden has the life of a champion and if anyone thinks otherwise, they are foolish.
And who knows, if Redden goes on a +40, 20 goal, 40 assist run in the AHL, who can rule out a return to the NHL?
The New York Rangers announced today that they have placed Wade Redden on waivers.
This was an expected move and Rangers fans everywhere are celebrating Wade’s departure from the Rangers.
Teams have 24 hours to claim him, then he will most likely be assigned to the Connecticut Whale.
As of this writing and according to CapGeek.com the Rangers have $465,833 in open cap space. This is definitely not enough to sign Marc Staal.
Of course that list includes Mats Zuccarello-Aasen who may or may not make the team, but that still would only free up $1.75 million.
Now there have been rumblings that Wade Redden will be sent to Hartford at the conclusion of training camp, but what if Wade deserves to be on the team?
We all know that Wade has sucked since coming tot the Rangers, but I’m sure he knows that management is unhappy with him and are willing to send him to the AHL, which would likely spell the end of Wade’s NHL career.
What if Wade doesn’t want to go out like that? What if he comes into training camp and outplays every single defenseman?
Could the Rangers still justify sending Wade to Hartford? That’s a tough question to answer. Without the Rangers waiving Redden they have almost no cap room to sign Marc Staal.
Here is the Rangers roster right now with Cap hits included:
| Marian Gaborik |
— |
$7,500,000 |
| Chris Drury |
— |
$7,050,000 |
| Alexander Frolov |
— |
$3,000,000 |
| Todd White |
— |
$2,375,000 |
| Ryan Callahan |
— |
$2,300,000 |
| Vaclav Prospal |
– |
$2,100,000 |
| Sean Avery |
— |
$1,937,500 |
| Brandon Dubinsky |
— |
$1,850,000 |
| Mats Zuccarello-Aasen |
– |
$1,750,000 |
| Derek Boogaard |
— |
$1,625,000 |
| Erik Christensen |
— |
$925,000 |
| Artem Anisimov |
— |
$821,667 |
| Brandon Prust |
— |
$800,000 |
| Brian Boyle |
— |
$525,000 |
| DEFENSEMEN |
| Wade Redden |
— |
$6,500,000 |
| Michal Rozsival |
— |
$5,000,000 |
| Daniel Girardi |
— |
$3,325,000 |
| Matt Gilroy |
— |
$1,750,000 |
| Steve Eminger |
— |
$1,125,000 |
| Michael Del Zotto |
– |
$1,087,500 |
| GOALTENDERS |
| Henrik Lundqvist |
— |
$6,875,000 |
| Martin Biron |
— |
$875,000 |
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ROSTER: 22; CAP: $59.4m; PAYROLL: $61.097m; BONUSES: $2.163m; CAP ROOM: $-1.697m
It seems like the Rangers will have to waive Redden no matter how he plays, good or bad. They just don’t have the space to keep his contract on the books while still signing Staal.
With his $6.5 million off the books, it really frees up the Rangers for this season and next when Callahan, Dubinsky and Anisimov all become free agents.
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According to Arthur Staple the Rangers might just be open to waiveing everyone’s favorite overpaid, underperforming defenseman Wade Redden.
“There is more room on defense, where Wade Redden is almost certain to be waived and sent to Hartford when training camp ends. “He’s been discussed,” Sather said.” Staple wrote.
I think it’s a good move for the Rangers to send Wade to Hartford. It’s not that Wade’s a bag locker room guy, he’s just not performing at the level that his contract dictates.
I also think that it is smart to wait until after training camp to think about sending Wade to Hartford.
It forces Wade to really put 100% effort into training camp and try and convince Rangers brass that he deserves a spot on the Rangers.
It also forces one of the Rangers prospects to earn the shot on the Rangers and not just be given the spot.
Now, onto the credibility of the source. In my opinion it is very very credible. In fact, it’s probably one of the most credible sources you can find. I’m not talking about Arthur Staple as a person, but I’m talking about the company he works for, Newsday.
Newsday just happens to be owned by Cablevision which just happens to be owned by James Dolan who just happens to own the Rangers. Now, do you really think that Dolan would allow his company to spread lies and rumors about the team that he owns? I don’t. And that’s why, in my opinion, Wade won’t be in Rangers blue next season.
Matt Gilroy was recalled from Hartford yesterday to play tonight against Carolina tonight. He will replace the recently demoted Bobby Sanguinetti and Ilkka Heikkinen.
Wade Redden will most likely be back in the line-up.
Ales Kotalik will replace Brian Boyle who is out with a sore back.
Lundqvist will most likely be in net.
