How Good Was Wade Redden?

[Big Phil]

In 2002 Redden was thought to be among a few younger names for Team Canada. The team already was locked in with Blake, Pronger, MacInnis, Niedermayer and Foote. But they needed two more. The younger names were Jovanovski, Brewer, Morris and Redden. The first two were taken. When Redden wasn't taken it wasn't a big deal, but I remember Ron MacLean after the announcement came out saying "Don't worry Wade, you'll be there in 2006."

That was sort of the idea with Redden. You figured he was only going to get better with age. The thing is, he didn't really. The Sens made a big mistake letting Chara go and keeping Redden. But in 2006 maybe you flip a coin over them because the idea was that Chara was coming into his own by then but Redden for sure was going to improve...........right? It just never happened.

In 2008 it was obvious his career was going downhill but as is the case with GMs, someone overpaid him and the Rangers took him. I was pretty shocked with that and just rolled my eyes because three years earlier we had a lockout thanks to this very sort of thing.

 

[NyQuil]

In 2002 Redden was thought to be among a few younger names for Team Canada. The team already was locked in with Blake, Pronger, MacInnis, Niedermayer and Foote. But they needed two more. The younger names were Jovanovski, Brewer, Morris and Redden. The first two were taken. When Redden wasn't taken it wasn't a big deal, but I remember Ron MacLean after the announcement came out saying "Don't worry Wade, you'll be there in 2006."

That was sort of the idea with Redden. You figured he was only going to get better with age. The thing is, he didn't really. The Sens made a big mistake letting Chara go and keeping Redden. But in 2006 maybe you flip a coin over them because the idea was that Chara was coming into his own by then but Redden for sure was going to improve...........right? It just never happened.

In 2008 it was obvious his career was going downhill but as is the case with GMs, someone overpaid him and the Rangers took him. I was pretty shocked with that and just rolled my eyes because three years earlier we had a lockout thanks to this very sort of thing.

By 2006 it was obvious that Chara was the better defenceman - except that the lockout resulted in unprecedented numbers of power plays due to obstruction, Chara struggled with injuries, and wanted the league maximum over the longest possible contract period.

Some questioned whether Chara would still be as effective in the more free flowing “new NHL”.

Unsurprisingly, it was the injury that resulted in a substandard playoff performance as opposed to the new officiating standard. He thrived once he went to Boston.

Meanwhile, Redden, who was stellar against Tampa Bay in those playoffs, a less physical team, would take less salary for fewer years.

It was less about Redden and more about Chara and Ottawa’s financial situation at the time with the cap actually causing Ottawa trouble with the Spezza and Heatley contracts on the horizon.

I don’t think Ottawa fans expected anything further in terms of his development.

 

[Big Phil]

By 2006 it was obvious that Chara was the better defenceman - except that the lockout resulted in unprecedented numbers of power plays due to obstruction, Chara struggled with injuries, and wanted the league maximum over the longest possible contract period.

Some questioned whether Chara would still be as effective in the more free flowing “new NHL”.

Unsurprisingly, it was the injury that resulted in a substandard playoff performance as opposed to the new officiating standard. He thrived once he went to Boston.

Meanwhile, Redden, who was stellar against Tampa Bay in those playoffs, a less physical team, would take less salary for fewer years.

It was less about Redden and more about Chara and Ottawa’s financial situation at the time with the cap actually causing Ottawa trouble with the Spezza and Heatley contracts on the horizon.

I don’t think Ottawa fans expected anything further in terms of his development.

I guess as a Leaf fan who saw him lots during those years I always figured Redden was someone who would improve. I do remember Chara's poor playoffs in 2006. Maybe that helped them decide on the two, but yeah what a bad decision that was. Even in 2007 I remember thinking that Chara must be regretting his decision because it will be Redden, not Chara, who will be Ottawa's #1 defenseman for whatever amount of Cups they win. In the end, Redden won zero, Chara captained the Bruins in 2011 to one.

 

[Stephen]

Thinking about Wade Redden’s career arc, he developed very little as a player through his career. He was a good defender in his rookie season at age 19 on a bad team. By age 21 he was the go-to defensive defenceman for Jacques Martin on the 1998-99 Ottawa Senators, a very good regular season team (103 points). I don’t think he ever really improved defensively from that point. Zdeno Chara and then Chris Phillips took over the defensive responsibilities a couple of years later and Redden settled into more of an offensive role. Offensively his point totals improved, and he became more effective on the power play, but he was never really a driver offensively, more of a puck mover from the back. He declined significantly from age 29 to age 32.

I think Redden would have had a much better career with the drive to improve and commitment to conditioning that Zdeno Chara had. Maybe some good veteran mentors would have helped. As it was, Redden was a good player offensively and defensively in his 20s but didn’t really add anything new to his game from the time he was a teenager. He did improve offensively but some of that can be attributed to the team improving around him. As soon as Redden reached the age where it becomes harder to maintain your physical condition, he slowed down and declined to the point he was a marginal NHLer.

I'd say Redden came on very strong in his rookie year. The Senators went from being NHL doormats from 1992-1996 to suddenly making the playoffs with him and an improved goalie situation.

For me, Redden was like Ottawa's Tomas Kaberle. Not as offensively refined and didn't have that mid career peak though. Always thought of him as one of the great young defensemen in the game, poised to be a Niedermayer/Lidstrom (before those guys became HHOFers) but then you just realized he wasn't that young anymore.