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Carolina Hurricanes buy out contract of James Wisniewski

The defenseman never played a game at PNC Arena, and his career with the Canes ended after an ACL tear 47 seconds into the season opener.

By Brian LeBlanc
Carolina Hurricanes v Nashville Predators Photo by Sanford Myers/Getty Images

James Wisniewski’s career with the Carolina Hurricanes lasted for one shift comprising 47 seconds.

The Hurricanes announced Thursday that they are buying out the remaining year of Wisniewski’s contract. Wisniewski waived his no-movement clause to facilitate the move, meaning he did not need to clear waivers to be bought out. The move will cost the Hurricanes $1 million against the cap for each of the next two years, freeing up $2 million in cap space for the 2016-17 season.

After the move, the Canes are approximately $8 million under the salary cap floor. Some of that space will be spent to re-sign Victor Rask and Ryan Murphy, but the Canes now have a significant amount of room to spend money when free agency opens Friday at noon.

The release from the team is below.

HURRICANES BUY OUT JAMES WISNIEWSKI
Defenseman has appeared in 552 career NHL games

Ron Francis, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has bought out the remainder of defenseman James Wisniewski’s contract.

Wisniewski, 32, appeared in one game with the Hurricanes in 2015-16, suffering a torn ACL in his left knee during the first period of the team’s opener against the Nashville Predators. He has appeared in 552 career NHL games with Chicago, Anaheim, the New York Islanders, Montreal, Columbus and Carolina, totaling 274 points (53g, 221a).