NHL Free Agency Update: James Wisniewski Signs with Columbus Blue Jackets

When James Wisniewski was informed that the Columbus Blue Jackets had acquired his rights on Wednesday, the 27-year-old Michigan native could not have been happier.

"I called James and his response was 'Let's go. We're going,'" his agent Bill Zito said. "His level of enthusiasm for (Columbus) was pretty high."

The two arrived in Columbus late Wednesday night and met with Blue Jackets general manger Scott Howson early Thursday morning.

Over the next three hours, Wisniewski met with Blue Jackets personnel, including head coach Scott Arniel.

The overall sense was that the meeting had gone well. However, at the end of the meeting, Wisniewski returned home without a deal being done.

Howson was still confident that a deal could be done, but the Jackets were running out of time.

The free agency period began at noon today and with the amount of defenseman available being slim, Wisniewski would be one of the most sought after free agents.

One team interested in "The Wiz" were the Detroit Red Wings, who are in need of a defenseman after the retirement of Brian Rafalski.

Playing for the hometown team could attract any player and the Wings have a lot of money to spend.

However, the Red Wings will not get a shot to sign Wisniewski, as the defenseman has signed a six-year, $33 million contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

With a little over an hour before the free agency period began, Howson was able to get a deal done, further improving the Blue Jackets.

“This is an important signing,” Howson said. “It’s a player we targeted and took the step of acquiring his rights. We put our best foot forward, spent the last two days really working at it, and finally got a deal done.”

When asked about the negotiations, Zito said that in the end, Wisniewski wanted to play in Columbus.

“Honestly, I had long, long talks with James about how close we were to free agency,” Zito said. “In my mind, there’s significantly more money available to him in the free agent market.

“You know what he said, and this isn’t B.S. He said, ‘I like it there.’ He wanted to be in Columbus. He was impressed by what they showed him. It’s a fit.”

Since the Blue Jackets were able to sign him, the Canadians will receive the Jackets' 2012 fifth-round draft pick as part of the deal.

Wisniewski is coming off his best year to date and will improve the Jackets blue line, as well as their power play, which was almost non-existant last season.

The projected top line for the Jackets' power play could be a huge improvement from last season with Jeff Carter, RJ Umberger and Rick Nash in front, and Wisniewski and Grant Clitsome on defense. Both defenseman are offensive-minded and love to put the puck on net.

With the Blue Jackets busy offseason of trades and big free agent signings, the team has found themselves as a possible contender come October.

Howson, in the past, has been patient when it came to free agency and trades, waiting for the right player to come along and building the team through their farm system.

However, this offseason Howson realized that the team needed to put a contender on the ice immediately or else he could possibly be out of a job.

Even with the addition of two impact players, Howson is still not done yet this offseason. The Dispatch also reported that talks between defenseman Jan Hejda and the team have stopped and Hejda will test the free agent market.

This means that the Blue Jackets will have to acquire a third-line defenseman, as well as a backup goaltender and a third or fourth line forward to fill the spot of Scottie Upshall.

But, Howson can relax a little as he has secured his talented defenseman right before he became a hot commodity.

If the team was not able to sign Wisniewski, combined with Hejda walking, they would have had to try and sign two free agent defenseman. A situation Howson referred to as "chaotic."