"The final piece of the Blue Jackets defense was put in place yesterday when veteran Radek Martinek signed a one-year, $2.2 million contract.

"Columbus was the first team to call me," Martinek said. "There were other teams, but they were first. And it seems like a good fit for me. I'm going to be in a pretty good role on a pretty good team. They've made lots of changes that are good. They're very serious about winning."

The tentative plan is to play Martinek on the right side of the second pair with Marc Methot. But the word tentative is never far away with Martinek.

The 34-year-old from the Czech Republic is regarded as a hard skater and a highly competitive player, one who is willing to put his body on the line for checks and to block shots. But his fearlessness has come at a cost: Martinek has averaged only 50 games per season over his nine-season NHL career, all spent with the New York Islanders.

The most recent injury was a concussion suffered at the world championships in April. Martinek said it took four weeks for him to recover.

The Blue Jackets had him in Columbus on Monday and Tuesday for a battery of tests."