NHL Trade Update: James Wisniewski's Rights Acquired by Columbus Blue Jackets

Even though Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson was able to pull off a blockbuster deal to bring in Jeff Carter, he knew that his team still had some holes to fill.

One of those holes was a top-four defenseman, and Howson planned to address that issue this coming Friday.

Well, today, according to NHL.com, Howson is trying to take care of that issue before the clock strikes noon on July 1 by acquiring the rights to former Montreal Canadiens defenseman James Wisniewski.

The Canadians will receive a seventh-round pick in 2012 in exchange for Wisniewski, and if the Blue Jackets are able to sign the defenseman before July 1, they will send a 2012 fifth-round pick to Montreal.

The Blue Jackets were in need of an offensive-minded defenseman this offseason after their power play ranked as one of the worst in the league last year.

Looking at Wisniewski's stats from last season, the Blue Jackets got a helping hand. He had career highs in goals (10), points (51), power-play goals (eight) and shots on goal (158).

Josh Rimer from XM Radio was able to get a comment from Wisniewski about the deal via his twitter.

"[I'm] excited about Columbus trading for my rights," said Wisniewski.

He also said that he's happy the team has faith in him.

The Michigan native would go on to say that he hopes that he and the Blue Jackets are able to work something out.

When the Columbus Dispatch caught up with Scott Howson, he knew about the scarcity of defenseman that would be available come July 1 and knew that he needed to do something beforehand.

"The free-agent market [for defensemen] is scarce," said Howson. "It could get a little shallower. We wanted to get in front of the player before Friday, let him know who we are and what we're about. And so we're pleased we were able to get something done."

Wisniewski was one of the top young defenders left in the free-agent pool as Kevin Bieksa and Joni Pitkanen re-signed with their respective teams and Christian Ehrhoff's rights were traded to the New York Islanders earlier this week.

The Blue Jackets are looking to revamp their blue line via trades and free agency as the team will most likely buy out the contract of Mike Commodore. They also chose not to make qualifying offers to both Anton Stralman and Sami Lepisto.

Howson would go on to say that the deal for Wisniewski had nothing to do with the on-going contract negotiations with defenseman Jan Hejda.

"This deal is completely separate from Jan," said Howson. "There's room for both of these players."

Earlier this offseason, Howson was confident that the team and Hejda could agree on a deal before the free-agency period began.

However, with yet another defenseman taken off the market, Hejda may decide to test the free agent waters, where he could receive a much larger contract.

It is clear this offseason that Scott Howson was not kidding around when he talked of change in the Blue Jackets organization.

With the big acquisitions of Jeff Carter and James Wisniewski, Howson has made the Blue Jackets relevant again in the league and made the city more marketable for other free agents.

Howson has made a substantial impact before the free agency period begins, and he is not done yet.