NY Islanders: Trading up for Brock Nelson illustrated the importance of draft capital

Trading Andy Sutton led to drafting Brock Nelson

Rather than wait to see if a player they really liked would last to pick No. 35, Snow packaged the two-second rounders to leave the first round with a player he coveted. The Isles had the 58th overall pick because, before the trade deadline, Snow moved D Andy Sutton to the Ottawa Senators for the pick. In the final season of a three-year contract he signed, the 34-year-old Sutton had four goals and eight assists in 54 games that season after being injured much of the prior year.

Standing 6'6 and 245 pounds with the propensity to land big hits and block shots, he was a target of multiple teams looking to bolster their defense heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Ottawa had acquired the pick from San Jose as part of a blockbuster that sent Dany Heatley to the Sharks for Jonathan Cheechoo and Milan Michalek.

"It's a fair price," Snow said in Newsday. "That's what the market is for a player of this nature, especially in terms of what a defenseman was bringing back. It's a good move for our organization when you look at what the future bears. The play of Andrew MacDonald and Dustin Kohn and the health of Jack Hillen enabled us to make a move like this."

Next: The Isles current draft capital is lacking