The Hurricanes announced that they have bought out the remainder of D James Wisniewski’s contract. As he had a full no-move clause, he did not have to go through the waiver process like six other players did earlier today.
Wisniewski played in just one game with the Hurricanes after being acquired last offseason for G Anton Khudobin. He tore his ACL in that contest (in his second shift, playing just 47 seconds) and missed the remainder of the season recovering from knee surgery. In order for him to be bought out, Wisniewski must have received a clean bill of health from team doctors.
He was due a salary of $3MM in 2016-17 with a cap hit of $5.5MM. Instead, the Hurricanes will pay Wisniewski $2MM in salary over the next two seasons and will incur a cap charge of $3.5MM in 2016-17 and $1MM in 2017-18.
Wisniewski has played in 552 career NHL games between the Blackhawks, Ducks, Islanders, Canadiens, Blue Jackets, and Hurricanes, collecting 53 goals and 221 assists. He could be an intriguing third pairing option for teams looking for blueline help in free agency.