James Wisniewski Traded From NY Islanders To Canadiens: 4th Team In Five Years

American born offensive defenseman James Wisniewski was traded yesterday from the New York Islanders to the Montreal Canadiens for a second round pick in 2011 and a conditional fifth round pick in 2012.

The Islanders apparently are conceding that they are going nowhere this season.

They sit second to last in the Eastern conference ahead of only the free-falling Devils. After half a season, it looks like the Islanders are guaranteed another lottery draft pick in the 2011 NHL entry draft and have made their peace with that fact.

The injury to Mark Streit to begin the season left James Wisniewski as the only offensive defenseman playing for the Islanders. Despite that, they dumped his $3.25 million salary for draft picks.

Wisniewski instantly becomes the Canadien's leading offensive defenseman with 21 points in 32 games. He easily surpasses Roman Hamrlik's 16 points in 35 games.

Wisniewski addresses some pressing issues in Montreal: Andrei Markov is out with what might be a career threatening knee injury; Josh Gorges is day to day with a bad knee; 25 year old Alex Picard is having trouble with increased ice time in Montreal and is likely to get sent back to the minors now; and PK Subban, who has been a healthy scratch, will be looked on to play big minutes again in Montreal while paired with the immobile Hal Gill.

Thus, Wisniewski brings experienced depth to the defense in Montreal and hopefully will supplement a power play that has been picking up for the Canadiens. He has all three of his goals and 13 of his 21 points on the power play this year. He had a two point power play night versus the Canadiens in the Islanders 4-1 victory last Sunday.

That certainly didn't hurt his trade prospects.  

Montreal should be worried about why the 156th overall draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2002 has been moved so often in his short career.

He played for two and half years in Chicago until he was traded to Anaheim for checking center Sami Pahlsson. He lasted a year and a half in Anaheim where he looked to be a young defenseman likely to be part of the rebuilding puzzle there. However, Ryan Whitney and he were both moved out of town. The Ducks traded the half point a game 26 year old defenseman to the Islanders for a third round pick. They signed the more defensively minded and cheaper Andy Sutton to replace him.

The Islanders were even quicker to move someone who should and could play a role on a young building team. They upgraded from a lost third round pick to a second rounder and a fifth if the habs sign the restricted free agent again.  

Wisniewski should be a bonus on an aging, thinning Montreal defense. He should help the power play. Hopefully, he doesn't prove to be a defensive disaster. He turns 27 in February so he's in the prime of his career.

Montreal has three older defenseman who are due to be unrestricted free agents next year, the injured Andrei Markov, the overpaid Roman Hamrlik and the simply old Hal Gill.

Wisniewski is in the last year of a $3.25 million contract. The Canadiens are in the enviable position of being able to resign the younger restricted free agent to fill one of those potential holes if he performs this year.

While filling a needed spot right now, he's also trying out to perhaps be one of the Montreal Canadiens defenders of the future. If he's horrible the Canadiens can walk away from him.  

The Islanders haven't lost anything long term through this deal. They traded a third rounder to get him and have got a second rounder and a potential fifth rounder for him. Short term, they lose Wisniewski, a proven NHL defenseman with some offensive skills and the opportunity to resign him. They lose a power play quarterback at a time when there is no one else on the team to fill the role but they seem resigned to their current lot. 

The Canadiens are nearing the end of a disastrous cross-Christmas road trip, where they are currently 1-4. They have to hope Wisniewski can help out offensively and defensively. He will start on the power play and get every opportunity to succeed there. This is a huge opportunity for Wisniewski to settle somewhere and play a key role.  

I'm not a proponent of trading draft picks and especially a second rounder for a player that three NHL organizations, the Blackhawks, Ducks and Islanders, all seem to have been quite happy to get rid of in short order.

Still, if he can play well enough he could be a key component of the Canadiens going forward. He certainly addresses some critical team needs now and in the future.