In what appears to be yet another nail in the "Wade Redden" coffin, the New York Rangers have sent Aaron Voros and prospect Ryan Hillier to the Anaheim Ducks for Steve Eminger.
Voros, who was underutilized and -- truthfully -- quite untalented, probably wouldn't have played a game for the Rangers this entire season. John Tortorella made it quite clear last year that Voros wasn't part of the Rangers plans moving forward, by only playing him in 41 games (and giving him basically five minutes a night when he did play).
Eminger is a 26-year-old defenseman, who has the potential to be a very good two way player. For whatever reason he has never found a nitch in the NHL, although he scored four goals and added 12 assists for 16 points in his 63 games last season with the Ducks.
A guy who will probably be expected to play on the third pairing, his arrival seems to be the final push to send Redden to the AHL. Although Eminger's salary is a reasonable $1.125 million-dollar cap hit for one more season. Voros, if you were wondering, had a $1 million-dollar cap hit, becoming a UFA at the end of the year as well.
Regardless, this move -- along with the assumption that Marc Staal will be re-signed at somewhere between $4 and $4.5 million-dollars a year -- makes it seem more likely that the Rangers are going to need to remove Redden's $6.5 million dollar cap hit.
[We will keep you updated on this as it continues, but don't forget to visit Blueshirt Banter for all of your New York Rangers needs.]