The New York Rangers will officially buy out Wade Redden. His buy out will be counted one of their amnesty buy outs. His cap hit however, will remain this season until the summer. The Rangers will now have a spot to sign another player so they can reach their 50 contract limit.

Well folks it’s the end of an era. The Wade Redden era is over. I used to think I’d be cheering this day, but no. Under these circumstances it’s more like meh, I don’t really care.

It’s sad though that his signing pushed Jaromir Jagr out of New York. If Sather would have given Jagr some of the money he gave to Redden, things could have been different. Let’s also remember the Rangers were chasing Brooks Orpik at the time but he chose to remain in Pittsburgh. Ultimately the Rangers would have been strengthened in the short term if they signed Orpik, but right now I’m glad that didn’t happen either as Orpik would most likely be overpaid right now.

There are some good things Redden did do though. Most of those things happened in Hartford, but let’s acknowledge them. He helped Ryan McDonagh and Michael Sauer become good defenseman in their time in the AHL. At least every defenseman who played with him in Hartford learned a few things from him. He was a real professional when he was sent down, and I’m glad he didn’t cause a big problem in Hartford while he was there.

I’m also happy Redden will get another shot at the NHL again. He didn’t deserve to end his career this way. I hope he finds a team this year and is able to play consistently for them. The guy’s been shamed enough, he deserves a shot of redemption.

With that said though, if he ends up in the Eastern Conference I hope the Rangers play him and they skate circles around him. I hope Mike Rupp skates end to end while Redden’s on the ice. I absolutely hate Redden in a hockey sense and I hope the Rangers destroy him on the ice.

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March 31, 2011; Tampa FL, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Alexei Kovalev (72) during the first period against the Tampa Bay Lightning at St. Pete Times Forum. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

According to reports from Pavel Lysenkov, Alexei Kovalev is back in New York and is preparing a return to the NHL. He’s skating with some players on the Rangers now and is maybe looking for a contract after the lockout ends.

It’s unknown whether or not Kovalev would like to play with the Rangers specifically.

First off, let me just say how hilarious it would be to see Kovalev play for Torts. That alone would just be worth it to see Kovy back in blue. Kovalev’s skills however, have diminished significantly.

This isn’t Jaromir Jagr returning to the NHL, the is Kovalev. Jagr left the NHL on a high note, and also continued his success in the KHL. He played three full seasons at or around a point per game there. I wanted Jagr on the Rangers when he was going to return but everyone seemed to have doubted him and the Rangers never offered him a deal. Perhaps Jagr and Sather didn’t have the best of relationships.

Anyway, back to Kovalev. Kovalev played 22 games last year in the KHL and had 6 points to show for it. Not exactly lighting up the league in his late 30′s. I don’t think the Rangers should take a risk on him. His style of play has never screamed that he could play well under Tortorella and I don’t think he’d start to play that way.

I do however think Kovalev could still play at the NHL level for some team. A team like the Panthers would probably welcome him to play on their power play unit and help get fans in the seats. He won’t score thirty goals, but I think he could put up 30-35 points if given ample power play time, offensive zone starts, and play against weaker competition.

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