Excerpt from Ottawa Sun writer Bruce Garrioch’s article:

Given notice by the Ottawa Senators that he won’t be back next season after he refused to discuss a cut of $3 million a season (all terms US) — from $6.5 million last season to $3.5 — Redden is getting ready to shop himself on the unrestricted free-agent market.

An NHL source said yesterday that Panthers GM Jacques Martin — a former coach of Redden with the Senators — is going to take a hard run at signing the veteran defenceman off the open market.

Habster:

Wade Redden is a very serviceable, solid #3-4 defenseman in this league and will be a nice addition to any team.

There are people in the hockey world who believe his better days are behind him but his age (he will be 31 on June 12th), stats ( GP- 80 G-6 A-32 PT-38 +11) and overall experience tell us something completely different.

Granted, Redden is no longer a top two defenseman but he would be a great fit on the second defensive pairing of most NHL teams (Carolina Hurricanes come to mind with Wesley and Hedican now out of the picture).

Wade Redden will be a hot UFA commodity but will undoubtedly have to take a pay cut from his $6.5 million salary of last year…….maybe in the $4.5-$5 million per season range.