Globetrotter James Wisniewski is back at it. The former high-scoring NHL defenseman split the 2016-17 season with clubs around the planet, beginning with Admiral Vladivostok of the KHL, a brief stop with Swiss club Lugano for the Spengler Cup, and wrapping up the campaign back home in the U.S. with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. With his pleas for NHL employment seemingly unanswered, Wisniewski is off to a new destination to begin what could be another whirlwind season.
Like fellow NHL veteran defenseman Mark Stuart, Wisniewski too has signed on in Germany for his next hockey adventure. However, the major – and surprising – difference between the two deals is that Stuart has joined German powerhouse Adler Manheim, while Wisniewski has agreed to terms with the Kassel Huskies of the DEL2, the second tier of German professional hockey. The team issued an excited press release announcing their big acquisition (link in German), as Wisnieksi is a caliber of player the likes of which has never been seen in Kassel, a small city in the center of the country. Wisniewski will be the first NHL veteran to ever suit up for the Huskies and one of only a small group to ever play in the league at all.
The strange fit for the talented Wisniewksi is made more sensible in the context of what promises to be another season of multiple stops. It has already been mentioned that Wisniewski is a likely candidate to put on the Team USA sweater at the 2018 Olympics and, following that international showcase, could easily return home to the states with many of his AHL-contracted teammates and may even perform well enough to draw interest as a stretch run addition in the NHL. Wisniewski continues to find unique ways to extend his playing career and, while he hasn’t played in an NHL game since he was injured in the Carolina Hurricanes’ season opener in 2015, his undeniable ability and dedication to the game will keep him relevant in the world of hockey. Until Wisniewski calls it quits (unlikely), it’s difficult to rule out a potential return to the NHL down the road. Only now, he’ll have the designation of being the first to work his way through the German minor leagues en route to his comeback.
I don’t know if something got lost in the translation but Wisniewski is not the first NHL veteran to play for Kassel. Perhaps they meant the first NHL vet to play there since the DEL2 was created in 2013 but several ex-NHLer’s have played there(most of little recognition) but NHL veterans like Ted Drury(414 games), Brent Fedyk(470 games), Christian Laflamme(324 games), Nick Schultz(1000+ games) and Sylvain Turgeon(669 games) all spent significant time in the NHL and played for Kassel in the 1990’s and early 2000’s.
Good catch. I was only looking at the DEL2 iteration of Kassel. Since they became a second-tier team, Kassel hasn’t had an NHL veteran on the roster nor has anyone returned to the NHL after playing in the DEL2.
Ok that makes much more sense. When I translated the article, my translation app also came out to say something similar that Wiz was the first player to play in Kassel. It really confused me because I actually met Sylvain Turgeon shortly after he came back from his last season with Kassel(he and Pierre grew up in the same area my mom did in Northern Quebec) and he signed a few of his German hockey cards for me.