"The Blue Jackets have signed injury-prone defenseman Radek Martinek to a one-year, $2.2 million contract today, The Dispatch has learned. The Jackets plan to pair Martinek with Marc Methot on the second pairing.

Martinek has played 70 or more games only once in a nine-year career, all spent with the New York Islanders. His most recent injury, a concussion, was suffered while playing for the Czech Republic national team at the World Championships in April.

The Blue Jackets had Martinek in Columbus in recent days for a physical and were pleased with the results, GM Scott Howson said.

"For our purposes, it was the concussion (we looked at closely)," Howson said. "He played since the knee injury and with no problems, but the concussion was a concern. We wanted to make sure he was fully recovered from the concussion and our doctors took a close look at him over two days. They were convinced that he's recovered."