New York Islanders Daily: Nino Niederreiter vs Cal Clutterbuck

It’s been four years since the Nino Niederreiter trade, so since they both just signed new contracts with their teams let’s revisit this trade.

Yesterday, former New York Islanders forward Nino Niederreiter signed a big extension with the Minnesota Wild. This year, the Isles also signed Cal Clutterbuck, who they got in return for Nino in the trade to a long term extension.

It’s a trade that’s still heavily talked about, so we’re going to compare the two’s numbers and new contracts.

The Deals

In December, in the midst of a struggle, the Isles elected to sign Cal Clutterbuck to a five-year $17.5 million contract. That’s an AAV of $3.5 million a year for someone who doesn’t put up a lot of points.

Granted, if we’re being fair Clutter is a locker room guy and considered a leader. Since the Isles lost three key veterans in free agency in 2016 I could see why they wouldn’t want to lose another leader. Does that yield a $17.5 million contract though? That’s a different story.

The Nino deal was also for five years except his was worth $26.25 million (an AAV of $5.25 million).

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The Stats

We all know the story, Niederreiter really struggled with the Islanders putting up three points in 64 career games with the team. The Isles thought he was a bust and shipped him out for an established player in Clutterbuck.

In his four years with the Wild Niederreiter has 173 points (83 goals, 90 assists). During Clutterbuck’s Islanders stint he has 78 points (39 goals, 39 assists).

Granted, they’re two different kinds of players but Nino has produced a ton more offensively

The Winner

I like Cal, probably more than most Islander fans do but this is a sure fire win for the Wild. They locked up a 24-year-old who has over 20 goals in each of the last three years for another five years. The Isles, well they got some grit and locker room leadership.

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