Fun write up of said deleted scenes here:
http://www.slashfilm.com/star-wars-the-force-awkens-deleted-scenes/
I’m not sure what this guys source is, but it’s interesting to read that the lightsaber in space thing was actually filmed.
And it seems like I was wrong about them not having filmed the earlier scenes with Leia talking about the Republic. At least the fan-edit guys will be very happy.
This was a very interesting little detail (specifically the last sentence);
"In the original script, Maz Kanata had Force powers. After the First Order begins their attack on the castle, Maz used her Force powers to cause the ceiling to cave in on a group of stormtroopers that had them cornered. In the sequence, Han Solo was forced to stall the stormtroopers to allow Maz to concentrate. There was a funny back and forth between him and the trooper. Han runs out of things to say so he rats out Finn, revealing that he recognized Finn’s stormtrooper boots — this is how he knew he wasn’t Resistance."
The novelization also seems to confirm that Kylo is aware of Vader’s redemption, but that Snoke has portrayed it as a moment of weakness that resulted in the fall of the Empire, hance Kylo struggle with the light side of the Force.