When will James Wisniewski be traded?

The Ducks acquired the 25-year old defenseman James Wisniewski at the trade deadline last year in a deal that included center Samuel Pahlsson to the Chicago Blackhawks. Now it appears that ”the Wiz” is on the move again, and his former club Chicago are reported to be one possible suitor.

Weather the Ducks will be buyers or sellers at the deadline this year is probably even beyond Ducks General Manager Bob Murray at this point. However, Wisniewski could be dealt no matter what. Last summer he signed a one year contract that has been giving him $2,75 million this season. But according to reports he was demanding over $3 million at the time and it seemed like he was heading towards arbitration. Instead he agreed to a lower salary but only signed a one year deal with the idea of showing what he was capable of and that he should be earning more.

But considering his play this year, $2,75 million seems like a fair amount of money. Yet rumours are that he’s looking for a contract that will give him somewhere around $3,0-3,5 million when he’s becoming a Restricted Free Agent again this summer.

For $3,0 or $3,1 million I would say there’s a possibility Bob Murray will agree to sign him even though a deal like that would be stretching it. If Wisniewski is heading back to Chicago, the 23-year old defenseman Cam Barker is likely to go the other way. Obviously, other teams could be interested in Wisniewski’s services. But either way, if the rumours regarding Wisniewski’s demands this upcoming summer are true, I fully expect him to be gone prior to the trade deadline or free agency.

More trades?
Other than the Wisniewski rumour there hasn’t been any much reliable one’s. However, Anaheim has only six defensemen on the roster and lot’s of forward depth. Forwards Petteri Nokelainen and Evgeny Artyukhin has been scratched a while now while GM Murray is likely making some phone calls regarding them and a few other bubble players. Bredan Mikkelson is probably the defenseman the team is looking to bring up from the AHL. The Ducks are also looking to bring rookie forward Dan Sexton back from the minors, so we should see a couple of players gone in a not too distant future.