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Report: James Wisniewski close to signing in KHL

Pittsburgh Penguins v Columbus Blue Jackets - Game Three

COLUMBUS, OH - APRIL 21: James Wisniewski #21 of the Columbus Blue Jackets controls the puck during Game Three of the First Round of the 2014 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Nationwide Arena on April 21, 2014 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)

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Since being bought out by the Carolina Hurricanes on June 30th, James Wisniewski’s been looking for his next contract.

He attended Tampa Bay’s training camp on a PTO, but was released because the Bolts couldn’t wait for him to get back up to speed.

It sounds like he’s found a new place to play, but it won’t be in the NHL.

According to TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger, Wisniewski is close to signing with the KHL’s Barys Astana.

Last season, the 32-year-old defenseman was shutdown after tearing the ACL in his left knee during the first period of Carolina’s regular season opener against the Nashville Predators.

Should he sign with Barys Astana, he’d join former NHLers Nigel Dawes, Brandon Bochenski, Martin St. Pierre, Cam Barker, Henrik Karlsson and Vitaly Kolesnik.

As Dreger also pointed out, Wisniewski isn’t closing the door on a return to the NHL. He’s heading overseas in hopes of landing another shot in North America in the near future.

In his last full season, he scored eight goals, 34 points and had a minus-13 rating in 69 games with the Blue Jackets and Ducks back in 2014-15.