Islanders: Best Player To Wear Number 36

Continuing our best of series, today we will look at the best player to wear number 36 for the New York Islanders in their history.

36 isn’t exactly a number that has been kind to the New York Islanders. In the team’s history, 21 players have worn the number and only four players have worn it for more than just one year with the team.

The first to ever wear ut was Glenn Johannsen in 1986, and some other notables are Neal Coulter, two games of Derek King, Ray Schults, Evgeny Korolev, rookie Travis Hamonic, and Eric Boulton.

For the honorable mention, we’re going to go with rookie Travis Hamonic. The Isles selected Hamonic in the second round of the 2008 draft class and he made his debut two years later during the 2010-2011 season.

That year, he’d put up 26 points (5 goals, 21 assists) averaging 21:34 of ice time over 62 games. Hamonic would switch to number three after that one year, but it was in that season that we saw we were getting a legit top-four d-man from Hammer.

Hamonic would play seven years on the Island and is a fan favorite of the modern era. Our winner today is going to be Gary Nylund.

Nylund was drafted by the Maple Leafs third overall in the 1982 draft. He played just three years in Toronto before moving to Chicago for two and a half years and then the Islanders. He’s actually best known for being the first player to change teams via free agency when he went from Toronto to Chicago.

The Isles acquired both Nylund and Marc Bergevin in a deal for Bob Bassen and Steve Knoroyd. He played 46 games with the Islanders that year putting up 12 points (4 goals, 8 assists). The following two years were the best years on Long Island.

As a 26-year-old, he had 25 points (4 goals, 21 assists) in 64 games and then 23 points (2 goals, 21 assists) the following year. Over the next two years, he would only play 29 games with the Isles before calling it a career at 29.

In 211 games with the Islanders, Gylund finished with 63 points (11 goals, 52 assists) from the blue line.

After retiring from the NHL, Gylund became a firefighter in Delta, British Columbia. In addition to his work as a firefighter, he is a part-owner and assistant coach of the BCHL Surrey Eagles.