New York Islanders Busy Making Moves At NHL Draft

from whl.com

Going into the draft, it looked as if the Islanders wouldn’t be much of a participant.

Minus a first round selection due to the ill-fated Thomas Vanek trade of 2 seasons ago, the Islanders did not figure to make much of an impact on the franchise with the 2015 NHL Entry Level Draft.

In fact, their highest selection coming into the draft was #72.

However, Garth Snow, who has shown a propensity to make moves since he took over the GM role, made a splash at this season’s draft through two interesting deals.

First the Isles dealt highly thought of defenseman Griffin Reinhart who was a first round pick in 2012 (Number 4 overall),  that hasn’t quite lived up to expectations.

His minus 13 rating at Bridgeport was quite alarming and he looked out of place in his few games in the NHL including a playoff game.

In the deal, the Islanders acquired the 16th and 33rd selections from the Oilers.

With the 16th pick the Isles picked 18 year old center Matthew Barzal whom the Islanders identified as a guy they wanted going into the draft.

Barzal is a bit undersized at 5’11 175, but his skill-set is top line material.

The former WHLer who played for Seattle Thunderbirds last season scored 12 goals and had45 assists as a play-making type with top end speed.

The Isles then took the 33rd pick and packaged it with  the no. 72 and sent them to the Lightning to get the 28th pick that they used to select Anthony Beauvillier who scored 92 points last season  Shawinigan Cataractes of the QMJHL last season.

Beauvlillier is a winger with a ton of skill but small at 5’10 and just 176 lbs.

The Islanders hope these undersized players are overlooked and could make an impact at the NHL level.