Could James Wisniewski Make Sense For The Flames? (Blue Jackets)

The Calgary Flames enter the off-season in need of some help on the backend and there are plenty of ways to address that.

One way of doing so could be trading for Anaheim Ducks defenseman James Wisniewski.

Wisniewski was arguably Columbus' best blue liner before they shipped him off to Anaheim where he struggled to get in the lineup.

As a result he is surely not a happy camper - I can't imagine an established top-4 defenseman enjoys watching hockey for over a month without playing - and it seems quite possible he will be traded once again this summer.

Enter the Flames.

Despite how last season ended for Wisniewski he is a very good defenseman and would be a great addition to the Flames' back end.

By all accounts he's been very good over the last few seasons and could step right into Calgary's top-4 and play big minutes.

As you can see he has done very well in terms of generating shots, suppressing them and simply putting up points at even-strength.

Not only has he been a very good even-strength player but he's been extremely effective on the man advantage.

Since the beginning of the 2012 season he ranks 15th among 98 eligible defensemen (minimum 200 minutes) in 5 v 4 points/60 with 4.5.

That ranks him ahead of Erik Karlsson, P.K. Subban, Duncan Keith and Victor Hedman to name a few.

He turns the puck over a little too much at times but the good far outweighs the bad.

He passes the eye test and pretty much every stat you look at - either standard or advanced - suggests he's a top-4 defensemen.

He could come in and immediately take some of the load off Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie, which is exactly what the Flames need.

Wisniewski carries a $5.5 million cap hit for next two seasons before becoming an unrestricted free agent at the end of 2016-17.

I thought Columbus sold low on Wisniewski and, after the value hit he just took in Anaheim, it probably wouldn't cost too much to get him from the Ducks.

If that's the case Brad Treliving would be smart to make a pitch.

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