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With the St. Louis Blues defensive core composed and anchored by up and coming stars, management has searched for a little bit more veteran presence to compliment Barret Jackman’s fountain of hockey knowledge on the back end. After Colin White’s tryout left the brain trust unsatisfied, their eyes kept searching.
Not finding one in the big league, Army & Co. sifted through the AHL lineups until they found Wade Redden who was manning the blue line for the Connecticut Whale, affiliate of the New York Rangers. Not many hockey players in their early thirties would continue on after being demoted to the minors with a long career already in the books, but Redden put his skates to the ice for two years in Hartford.
The veteran defenseman has spent the majority of his career with the Ottawa Senators after being drafted by New York Islanders second overall in the 1995 entry draft. Eleven seasons led him to a free agent deal with the Rangers in 2008 where his offense would be the lowest since his sophomore season and he was sent down after two seasons.
Trading in his Blueshirt for a Bluenote, Redden signed on with St. Louis to stabilize a young and chaotic group. With run and gun offensive minded skaters, Redden can calm the environment during the inevitable crazy moments of a forty-eight game season. His experience and positive attitude does much to strengthen an already deep club.
The seasoned blue liner has shown a commitment to the game of hockey and it may be paying off with his new deal on a championship caliber team.