As of noon Saturday, the New York Rangers officially admitted that signing Wade Redden was a big time mistake.
Rangers Place Wade Redden On Waivers, Won’t Let The Door Hit Him On The Way Out
Okay, so maybe not in so many words, but in any event, Redden is gone. The team placed him on waivers this afternoon, freeing up $6.5 million in cap space and likely sending the 13-year NHL veteran to the AHL.
The folks at Blueshirt Banter, and Rangers fans across the globe, are throwing parties this afternoon to celebrate.
And our prayers have been answered today! Early morning news and Glen Sather kept his word on not having any cap issues before the season started. Kind of sucks that Redden just had his first child ... but I hope he was saving his money.
Well, despite a probably relocation to Hartford, where Redden will likely become a charter member of the Connecticut Whale, it’s not like he has to worry about cash. He still gets all of the $23 million remaining on his contract, which is really incredible. Joe Fortunato of Blueshirt Banter remarked that “[Rangers owner] James Dolan has that money in his couch cushions” though, so it doesn’t make a difference to him.
Redden has performed way below his salary commands, and thus he's gone. But as is the case with Michael Nylander, Cristobal Huet and now Redden, the ability for their teams to just toss them aside when they underperform without feeling much penalty is certainly a luxury that only the big-market teams in the NHL have.
If Dave Poile in Nashville had signed Redden instead of Glen Sather in New York, Redden would without a doubt still be playing in the NHL. Is that fair? If you ask the people in Nashville, or in any other small market in the league, they’ll likely tell you that no, it’s not fair, and something needs to change.
But if you ask one of those big market clubs, they’ll obviously tell you the complete opposite. And they might have an argument to make: they pay into revenue sharing and they support the other clubs in the league financially as it is. Why shouldn’t they be able to buy a player out or bury him in the minors if they so choose?
Be sure to read more at Blueshirt Banter or SB Nation New York.
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