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What does James Wisniewski trade mean to Bruins? 06.29.11 at 3:26 pm ET
By DJ Bean

The latest shoe to kind of drop regarding the defensive free agent landscape came Wednesday, as the Canadiens have traded the rights to James Wisniewski to the Blue Jackets for a seventh-round pick.

The move suggests two things. First off, Wisniewski likely won’t be returning to the Habs after he scored seven goals and added 23 assists for 30 points following his trade from the Islanders. Second of all, the fact that the rights to the better, younger Wisniewski were worth only a seventh-rounder might mean the Bruins will be out of luck in their attempt to trade Tomas Kaberle‘s rights.

Of course, teams could simply be confident that Wisniewski wants to wait until free agency opens to pick his team, which would explain why his rights could be had for so little.

Wisniewski is a gritty blueliner who’s solid on the power play. He could conceivably be a target of the Bruins, but given that he’s coming off a career year (51 points), he may command too much for their liking.

If both Wisniewski and Christian Ehrhoff, whom the Islanders acquired the rights to on Tuesday, are signed before Friday, Kaberle could be considered the top defenseman on the open market. Woof.

Wisniewski played five-regular season games against the B’s last year, scoring a goal and adding three assists for four points and posting a minus-6 rating. He had two assists and was a minus-3 in the first round of the playoffs against Boston.

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  • Deano

    Bruins need offense more than defense. Kampfer could replace Kaberle on the roster, and the Bruins only need to add a depth defenseman or two. Or they could trade for one.

    Bruins Current Cap Space: 12.09 Mill
    If
    Bruins Resign Marchand 3 years, 3.5-4m per year
    Let Michael Ryder walk
    Let Kaberle walk
    Let Shane Hnidy walk
    Recchi retired

    If Savard returns next season and Bruins resign Marchand at 4 mill per year they will have 8.09 mill to spend
    If Savard retires they will have 12.09 mill to spend
    To fill two roster spots one forward and one defense spot. So they could add significant skill at one of these positions by taking on a veteran with a big contract through a trade. Bruins have enough draft picks and prospects to pull off a big time trade.

    Will the Bruins make a big splash this offseason or fill out the team with more quality depth players? I say make one big splash on a forward and add depth at D and go for another cup as Timmy T and Chara are only getting older.

    Michael Ryder can be replaced by a more effective Tyler Seguin, who should improve next year. To replace Recchi the Bruins need to acquire a veteran power forward that can play in front of the net. They have about 6 million to spend to acquire this and should be able to get someone to play on the Bergeron and Marchand line and be effective as a goal scorer on the PP, maybe trade for Jerome Iginla (1 year 6 m left on his contract)? We could trade Caron, 1st round pick, 2nd round pic and another prospect from the AHL if needed.

    The Bruins are set in net, no moves should be made here.

    The Bruins should try to add an all around defenseman that can pass the puck but also play with grit to replace Kaberle, the Bruins should have a bunch of money to spend here and there are some decent D men left on the free agent market. Kampfer should be the number 7 d man next year.

    Bruins still have a lot of bullets left in the gun for trades, maybe they make a move for a veteran player that would significantly upgrade the team and replace Recchi’s leadership in the locker room. If there was an ideal player for them to get while they have cap space, it would be Jerome Iginla (6 million cap hit). There were rumors about him last year and maybe they move him in the offseason as he only has one year left in his deal. He would immediately improve the entire Bruins offense especially the PP as he is a 40+ goal scorer (unlike Kaberle who had a whopping 4 goals last season).

    Start the Iginla talk, maybe if enough people here it, it starts the Bruins thinking about it. If you match up Iginla with Bergeron and Marchand that line would be awesome.

  • BigJoe

    This was a humorous read.

    It is obvious Kaberle is the least desirable of the big defenseman. Also, if Wisniewskis rights were cheap because he is likely to wait until free agency, then why was the conditional pick only a fifth rounder? No, Columbus got a deal and other teams are sorry they didn’t.

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