Wade Redden Autograph Card

Were you tired of hearing about the Nashville Predators' defense this summer? And why could Wade Redden possibly have anything to do with any of that?

Well, Redden signed on as the Preds' player development coach for defensemen, where he'll get to mentor his own former mentor Lance Pitlick's son, Rem. All of Nashville's prospects on D stand to benefit from the experience of a former NHL alternate captain who has 1023 regular-season and 106 playoff NHL games on his resume despite spending two full seasons in the AHL just because his contract was too hefty to allow him to remain on the New York Rangers roster.

The kids will get to find out that even All-Stars (and Norris top-5 finishers) can take blindside hits and have to pick themselves up and keep fighting for their spots at times.

He has a World Cup title (2004) and two World Junior Championship gold medals (1995 and 1996) as a member of Team Canada, with whom he also won silver at the 2005 World Championships.

Here he is, sporting the Ottawa Senators' best-looking white (then-home) uniform, from In The Game's 1998-99 Be A Player set:

It's signed on-card in thin white sharpie.