The Tampa Bay Lightning will have some competition on their backend.

Per James Mirtle, the Lightning and defenseman James Wisniewski have agreed on a pro tryout agreement following a 47-second, one-game 2015-16 season derailed by a torn ACL for the 32-year-old.

It’s been a straight-up weird ride for Wisniewski, whose latest surgery was his fourth overall surgery on an ACL (he’s had three on his right and one on his left), over these last two seasons.

First he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks from Columbus at the 2015 trade deadline, where he served as a bizarre healthy scratch throughout Anaheim’s run despite a solid five assists in 13 games. Then he was traded to Carolina (for Anton Khudobin) in the offseason, where he played just that aforementioned 47 seconds before his season came to an end and a buyout followed this past June.

Now he comes to a (deep) Lightning blue line with a chance to make an impression.

But finding the time, and more specifically the roster spot, for Wisniewski to work in Tampa Bay might be tough. The Lightning have their top four set with the dynamic top-pairing featuring Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman, and even their second pairing of Jason Garrison and Andrej Sustr seems set, so Wisniewski would likely have to make it work on a third pairing opposite Braydon Coburn or the still unsigned restricted free agent Nikita Nesterov. That's without figuring Slater Koekkoek, one of the club's bright spots to close out the year, into the NHL picture, too.

There’s also a cap issue that the Bolts have to work through first, too, with just over $6.5 million left to re-sign Nesterov and fellow restricted free agent, top-line forward Nikita Kucherov.

Now, though these are not the most positive things to read if you’re Wisniewski, it’s far from all bad.

The good news, at least for Wisniewski, is that so many Lighting defensemen will find themselves suiting up for their homeland in the World Cup of Hockey in September. Hedman and Stralman (Sweden), Sustr (Czech Republic), and Nesterov (Russia) will all be out of Lightning camp throughout the tournament, so there will be minutes for a guy like Wisniewski, at least to start.

But Wisniewski has been productive when healthy.

In four years with Columbus, the Canton, Mich. native put up 26 goals and 121 points in 209 games. Overall, between six organizations, Wisniewski has put up 53 goals and 274 points in 552 games.

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