Top Shelf : Islanders Daily 7/1/2013

Jun 30, 2013; Newark, NJ, USA; Ryan Pulock poses for a photo with team officials after being introduced as the number fifteen overall pick to the New York Islanders during the 2013 NHL Draft at the Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

Middletown, N. J – Well the league did accomplish what it had set out to do. Finish all seven rounds of the NHL entry draft in one afternoon/evening. On an overcast Sunday in Newark, the newest members of the NHLPA were told what team they would be negotiating their first professional contract with.

On a day that was supposed to be loaded with trades and rumors supporting movement of several big named players, it was the host New Jersey Devils who made the biggest splash, fixing their goaltending issue with one quick move by general manager Lou Lamoriello. The Devils traded their first round selection, 9th overall, to Vancouver for goaltender Corey Schneider, who instantly becomes the replacement for Martin Brodeur.

Rumor has it Garth Snow had offered up Nino Niederreiter and the 15th selection for Schneider, but Mike Gillis clearly wanted Bo Horvat and selected the lesser package. Snow did end up moving Nino and his attitude, shipping him to Minnesota for banger Cal Clutterbuck who will insantly become a fan favorite on the Island and adds a necessary element of grit to go with a slight scoring touch.

With it being July 1 and free agency a mere 4 days away, there is no need to panic in Islanders country, even though we did not get our replacement for departed Mark Striet or solve anything in the crease. There is plenty of time to address those concerns and the stable at Bridgeport just added some new horses to work with.

Selecting offensive defenseman Ryan Pulock at 15, New York continued their tradition of building from defense out. Over the course of the next six rounds, they would select another defenseman, 3 forwards and 2 goaltenders to round our their 2013 entry class.

Keep it tuned right here to Eyes as Chris Triantifilis previews Pulock today. Our initial live blog covering the draft went very well and we plan on doing another one Friday for the opening of free agency, which with compliance buyouts, promises to be action packed.

Links

• A recap of our initial live blog that covered the draft can be found here (EOI)
• Eric Bordin recaps Isles draft day (EOI)
• Recap of the 2013 draft party (NYI)
• Rangers first pick has ties to the Island (NYT)
• The Wild welcome Nino (Twin Cities)
• Recap of the Schneider trade (NYT)
• The entire 2013 draft can be found here (NHL)

From Around The Twitter-Sphere

• Tony leads us off this fine Monday morning with the reality check for all those Snow haters out there. Seriously people, do you really think Garth sits back and uses a play phone out of a cracker jack box? Sometimes, the best moves are the ones you dont make and the ones you do were the only option left.

• Isles Blog was hitting some doubles yesterday but knocked one out of the park here. Great stuff.

• And there is the thing that will make Islanders fans love Cal. Rangers fans already hate him and its only July. Team got 100% tougher to play against, especially when you consider Clutterbuck and Martin on two seperate lines. Crash and bang city.

• McNally, after going through some moments of playing a little pepper, must have taken extra batting practice today. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th, he hits the game winning grand slam of tweets. Really set the day off properly. ?

• And that is what you get when you wish for Snow in the summer. You are not going to win a financial battle against the Isles GM and Kitchton clearly thought of himself much more than the league did.

• Bryan had a number of objective, realistic tweets on the Islanders day but this one summed it all up in a nice little box. Isles are at the cusp of being a really good hockey club for a long time and we have to trust in management that they can get us there. Stay patient and keep believing.

• We end the segment with Capellini. If you are an Isles fan and don’t follow Jeff ,you really need to re-evaluate how good you think you are at Twitter. It’s a must for everyone’s timeline. The hot rumor post draft concerned the Isles and former Panthers center. Caps paints the picture of how you cannot pay him more than Moulson, making his move to the Island very unlikely. He will probably find greener pastures or a dumb GM elsewhere. Not to say he cannot help the club but it just doesn’t sound like a fit right now.

-AG