Anaheim Ducks Trade Deadline: James Wisniewski (Defenseman)

Mar 1, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Nick Foligno (left) and defenseman James Wisniewski (21) talk prior to a face-off against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the first period at the CONSOL Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The addition of Simon Despres was not the final move made for the Anaheim Ducks at the March 2nd NHL Trade Deadline. The Ducks had a lot of puck-moving capabilities on the back-end, but the veteran leadership on the defense group was limited to that of just Francois Beauchemin and Clayton Stoner.

The Ducks also reduced the number of right-shot defensemen in their corps to two: Sami Vatanen and Josh Manson. The former is returning from injury, while the latter probably does not play when the group is fully healthy.

Another deal involving the Ducks was announced after the 3 p.m ET deadline, involving the acquisition of a veteran, right-shot defenseman. The deal was broken by Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch.

Ducks general manager has made it known publicly numerous times that he is not fond of making “rental” acquisitions: he would much rather acquire players with term. Some of the biggest names on the defense market (Jeff Petry, Zbynek Michalek, Cody Franson, Andrej Sekera, and Marek Zidlicky) were all pending unrestricted free-agents.

Instead, Murray went and acquired James Wisniewski, a player with term. The Ducks acquired Wisniewski and a third-round draft pick for forward prospect William Karlsson, left-winger Rene Bourque, and a second-round pick.

Next: Anaheim: Wisniewski, Draft Pick