Mar 3, 2013; Dallas, TX, USA; St. Louis Blues defenseman Wade Redden (6) warms up before the game against the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center. The Stars defeated the Blues 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Well, they weren’t the moves most Bruins fans were looking for at the deadline, but just a day after adding future hall of fame forward Jaromir Jagr, the Bruins have today swapped a pair of minor leaguers and added veteran defenseman Wade Redden.
In what was the first move of the NHL trade deadline day, Boston sent prospect Maxime Suave, who had reached his pick in the Bruins organization to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange center prospect Rob Flick.
At 6’3″, Flick is a solid replacement for the recently departed Lane MacDermid‘s skill set. Flick is big, can bang and can fight. After that there isn’t much going on as he has 2 goals and 3 assists to go with 97 penalty minutes so far this season in 51 games playing for Chicago’s AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs.
This was nothing more than a prospect swap, but later in the day and actually after the 3PM EST trade deadline had passed, the Bruins added a veteran presence to their blue line in Redden from the Blues in exchange for a 7th round pick.
After being stuck in purgatory in the New York Rangers organization for a a couple years, Redden was finally dealt to the St. Louis Blues shortly after this year’s lockout ended. Redden came out like a bullet out of a gun for the Blues scoring a goal in each of his first two games for them. He’s since slowed his production and has just been a steady/reliable presence on the back end for the Blues.
Redden has 2 goals and 3 assists in 23 games for the Blues this year and will most likely be the 7th defenseman for the Boston Bruins once Adam McQuaid returns from injury, which should be shortly.
I like the addition of Redden and people who don’t need to remember the Bruins have been putting Aaron Johnson on the ice for the better half of a month. Also, Redden has familiarity with the Bruins having played in Ottawa under Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli and alongside Zdeno Chara and Chris Kelly. He’s not a world beater but he’s definitely a better deadline addition than Mike Mottau or Shane Hnidy, which are some players Chiarelli has added in the past.
Again, not the blockbusters fans were hoping for, but the additions of Jagr and Redden make the team better and should help them gear up for a run at the Stanley Cup in 2013.