On Sunday, thousands (including ME) came to Newark New Jersey and filled the Prudential Center for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. The New York Islanders would be there with 29 other teams to out think, outwork and out guess their opponents to land the best available NHL prospects.
Before the day would end, Garth Snow and the New York Islanders would select 3 forwards, two defensemen and two goaltenders at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft in Newark New Jersey.
***
1st Round:
D, Ryan Pulock.
Pulock is a 6'0, 211# character Canadian d-man
with a 100+ mph shot and leadership potential.
He served as Captain on the Brandon Wheat Kings in his 3rd WHL
season. Pulock had 14 and 31 for 45 pts
in 61 games for Brandon.
2nd Round:
N/A
(Traded to Anaheim for Visnovsky at last summer's draft. Ducks select RW, Nick Sorensen.)
3rd Round:
G, Eamon McAdam (Added with Niederrieter trade)
At 6'2, 185#, McAdam is a big goaltender who
covers a lot of net. In 31 games for
USHL's Waterloo Black Hawks, McAdam went 17-9-3 with a 3.45gaa and .896Sv%.
F, Taylor Cammarata
While small in stature, the 5'6, 155# Cammarata
showed impressive offensive ability with Waterloo, tallying 38 and 55 for 93
points in 59 USHL games last season and named USHL Player of Year in 2012-13.
4th Round:
G, Stephon Williams
Williams is a 6'1, 194# from Minnesota
State-Mankato who posted a 21-12-2 record with a 2.00 gaa and a .924 Sv% in 35
games.
5th Round:
F, Viktor Crus
Crus is 5'11, 190# Swedish forward who scored 35
points in 35 games with Linkoping's under-20 club in the Swedish Junior League.
6th Round:
F, Alan Quine
The 5'11, 178# Quine is a center men who scored
23 and 44 for 67 points in 74 games for the Petes and Bulls of the OHL last
season. Quine was selected in 3rd round, 85th overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by Detroit, but re-entered the draft this summer.
7th Round:
D, Kyle Burroughs
Burroughs is a 5’11, 182# defensemen who scored
33 points (5 and 28) in 70 WHL games last season with Regina.
***
That wasn't the only Islanders news on Draft
day. GM, Garth Snow sent agitated
former first round pick F, Nino Niederreiter to the Minnesota Wild for fan
favorite F, Cal Clutterbuck.
Clutterbuck is a gritty, defensive minded forward who offers an ability
to score and give minutes on the Isles PK unit. In 5 seasons with the Wild, Clutterbuck has 110 points and added a
goal an assist in last seasons playoff round.
Per Arthur Staple, Isles have acquired Cal Clutterbuck and the Minnesota Wild's 3rd round pick, No. 70 overall, for Nino Niederreiter.
Jordan Linn, a member of the New York IslandersHardcore Facebook Group posted some interesting information on Clutterbuck, and
former team mate, John Tavares:
"For two years, Clutterbuck and Tavares
were linemates. In 2006-07, Tavares scored 72 goals to break Wayne Gretzky’s
OHL record for goals by a 16-year-old and registered 134 points. That same
year, Clutterbuck scored 35 goals and 89 points.
When Clutterbuck, the Wild’s third-round pick in 2006, left for Houston the following season, Tavares’ production “slipped” to 40 goals and 118 points.
“I realized last year how much I missed Cal’s presence,” Tavares said earlier this year. “He always had guys looking over their shoulders. He made guys second guess things and turn pucks over, and that created a lot of opportunities for myself.”
...
Clutterbuck said the most infamous hit was on superpest Patrick Kaleta, the former Peterborough Pete who now plays for the Buffalo Sabres. Kaleta used to take runs at Tavares every game until …
“I hit him with a football block,” Clutterbuck said, laughing. “He was going into kill Johnny and I came out of nowhere and just hammered him. Just laid him out. He never hit Johnny again. Johnny was the franchise guy and my job was to make sure nothing too crazy happened to him.”"
When Clutterbuck, the Wild’s third-round pick in 2006, left for Houston the following season, Tavares’ production “slipped” to 40 goals and 118 points.
“I realized last year how much I missed Cal’s presence,” Tavares said earlier this year. “He always had guys looking over their shoulders. He made guys second guess things and turn pucks over, and that created a lot of opportunities for myself.”
...
Clutterbuck said the most infamous hit was on superpest Patrick Kaleta, the former Peterborough Pete who now plays for the Buffalo Sabres. Kaleta used to take runs at Tavares every game until …
“I hit him with a football block,” Clutterbuck said, laughing. “He was going into kill Johnny and I came out of nowhere and just hammered him. Just laid him out. He never hit Johnny again. Johnny was the franchise guy and my job was to make sure nothing too crazy happened to him.”"
-Michael Russo, Star Tribune
Now that I have had time to let this move sink
in, I like it more and more. Nino
Niederrieter was really a big part of the rebuild plan when drafted, but looked
terrible in his initial NHL action.
When put with the BST in the AHL, he looked to be developing nicely and
went from 4 pts in 2011-12 season to 50 points in 2012-13. Garth Snow was blamed for
"rushing" Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey, so with Nino, he seemed to be
taking his time. Then Niederrieter
apparently demanded a trade, then publicly denied the claim and blamed his agent.
Now, Niederrieter can develop with the Minnesota
Wild and show what he can bring to their NHL line up. He has tons of potential, lets hope he can stay injury free and
reach it. We don't want anyone who doesn't want to play here. Good luck Nino.
In the meantime, Cal Clutterbuck will join Matt
Martin, Casey Cizikas and Colin McDonald and make the improving Islanders even
harder to play. His offensive upside
and special teams play should also make the team better immediately. Isles now have the NHL's hits leaders for the past 5 seasons: Matt Martin (2011-13) and Clutterbuck (2008-11).
Clutterbuck had this
to say about coming to the Islanders, "The
Islanders seemed to really want me. I heard a lot of teams (were) interested.”
"For me, it's
about being the same person every day. I'm going to help them succeed any way I
can."
Expect moves by Snow to test the market in the
coming days and add a goaltender while exploring offensive and defensive free
agency. The Isles have made their interest
known with Luongo and Briere already. I
am sure there are more targets in their sites.
Lets hope last Years improvement and Brooklyn's detination put Snow over the edge to
pull in a big name or two for the 2013-14 New York Islanders.
Isles Notes:
Per New York
Islanders, Congrats to @GriffinReinhart & Adam Pelech on being
selected to participate in Canada's NJT Development Camp!
Per Pierre LeBrun, "Expect an announcement shortly that Tim Thomas will be exploring his playing opportunities to come back to the NHL ... So, Tim Thomas will be UFA Friday like any other player on an expiring deal."
Arthur Staple adds, " Isles will not toll Tim Thomas' contract. He'll be a UFA on Friday if he chooses to resume his career. Isles not believed to have interest in signing Thomas should he decide to return."
Arthur Staple, "Source close to Danny Briere says Isles among teams interested. Briere will choose finalists soon. "Wants a top-6 spot, wants to win."
Per B.D. Gallof,
HOCK.ly scoop: Isles have signed Boston
College goalie Parker Milner - likely to Bridgeport. Led team to NCAA
Championships & was MVP.
My thoughts ...
Significant
goaltender signing? I think so. Kenny Reitter is already signed and slated
for BST. Nilsson will most likely be
the starter. That leaves DiPietro no
room to play and forces the Isles to keep Poulin on their roster or trade him since
he must clear waivers.
Per Arthur Staple,
Snow also says no decision made yet on DiPietro buyout; my sense is Isles will
have announcement in next 48 hours.
Jesse Spector adds, " Snow would not say whether DiPietro is
medically eligible for a buyout."
UPDATE:
Arthur Staple," Isles will
place Rick DiPietro on waivers tomorrow for purpose of compliance buyout,
Newsday has learned. Team will use
compliance buyout for DiPietro -- $1.5 million owed for next 16 seasons will
not count against cap."
B.D. Gallof said it
best, " Award for Best Irony goes to former Isles Brendan Kitchon, wanted
pay higher than 5th rd pk, went back to draft = 7th rd pk Winnipeg."
Very excited to be a
Winnipeg Jet! Ready to prove all the haters wrong and begin my career with a
great organization! #jets"
My Follow-up:
@B_Kichton8.
Haters? Isles fans were excited w/ U, future of team. U wtd 2be paid abv ur
draft pos. Now evn lower @7. Be accountable. Manup."
NHL Notes:
Your NHL.com official
compliance buyout tracker.
Per Chris Botta,
Additional outdoor games, Canadian media rights and new sponsors expected to
give $1B boost to NHL.
***
Thanks to Steve Feldman for taking this epic photo.
***
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