No Islander fan can disagree with that assessment. Given that they made the postseason and pushed the Penguins, it was the best move for all parties. Niederreiter gets a fresh start with Minnesota while Clutterbuck adds more muscle. He’s a restricted free agent.

As for the draft, the Islanders made seven picks. Not surprisingly, two were goalies. They used their second selection in the third round on American Eamon McAdam. Taken 70th overall, the Doylestown Pennsylvania native ranked sixth among North American goaltenders. He goes 6-2, 188 and catches left. McAdam played for the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League. He went 17-9-3 with a 3.45 GAA, .896 save percentage and two shutouts splitting duty with Calvin Petersen. Petersen was grabbed by the Sabres in the fifth round despite being rated higher (4th). He had better numbers (21-11-1 2.97 GAA .906 Save Pct 3 SHO). It’ll be interesting to see how both develop. McAdam moves closer to home where he’ll play for Penn State this Fall. He thanked fans in Waterloo for his time spent the past three years.

In Round 4, the Isles went for another former Waterloo product in 20-year old overager Stephon Williams. Apparently Islander scouts spent a lot of time in the USHL. After spending part of ’11-12 with the Black Hawks, the 6-2 190 Fairbanks Alaskan performed well in his freshman year with Minnesota State University of WCHA. In 35 games, he was 21-12-2 with a 2.00 GAA, .924 save percentage and four shutouts garnering WCHA Rookie Of The Year and All-WCHA First Team. At the very least, he sounds like an interesting prospect. Initially, Williams spent nearly two years with the Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL) before his stint with Waterloo. The only time his save percentage dipped beneath .900 was in 19 games with the Black Hawks. He catches left and has the size to fill the net. It looks like the Islanders are hoping to sign him in a year and wait on McAdam. They can’t be sold on backup Kevin Poulin or Anders Nilsson. Mikko Koskinen is in rookie prospect camp this week.

The Islanders took Canadian defenseman Ryan Pulock with the 15th pick of the first round. Listed at 6-1 211, his midterm ranking was sixth but slipped to 12th among North American skaters. In three seasons with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League, the right handed blueliner has developed offensively. He’s never had a year where he didn’t register over 40 points. After going 19-41-60 in ’11-12, Pulock was 14-31-45 in ’12-13 playing 10 less games (61). His plus/minus took a hit dropping from plus-33 to minus-7. Despite that, the Isles liked what they saw.  He put up 11 points (5-6-11) in 15 postseason games in 2011 and 2012. Five defensemen went before him including Rasmus Ristolainen, who Buffalo took ninth. Winnipeg chose Joshua Morrissey two picks before the Isles.

“He’s a good young defenseman, can create offense, plays the game the right way, plays hard in front of his net,” Snow told Newsday’s Arthur Staple. ‘We just really love his offensive flair.“

Also in Round 3, the Isles went with Minneapolis speedster Taylor Cammarata. He’s only 5-7 156 but exploded with 93 points (38-55-93) in his second year with Waterloo to win USHL Player Of The Year. Maybe due to his size, the University Of Minnesota bound Cammarata was rated 193rd. Encouraging is that he wasn’t even ranked at midterm. He climbed up the charts into the top 200. The Islanders liked him enough to take him No.76. Here’s a highlight reel for curious observers. Might he be another Johnny Gaudreau? We’ll have to wait and see. 

In the fifth and sixth rounds, they took centers Viktor Crus Rydberg and Alan Quine. After going a point-per-game (12-23-35 in 35 GP) with Linkoping J20 of the SuperElit, Crus Rydberg played for the Swedish Under 18 posting five goals and seven assists in 19 games. He also participated in four games in the World Junior Championship notching a helper with eight penalty minutes. He’ll return to Linkoping J20 for his second year. Quine is another overager the Isles selected No.166. Originally a Red Wings’ third rounder in 2011, he failed to sign after a three-game tryout with Grand Rapids posting a helper. He split ’12-13 in the Ontario Hockey League with the Peterborough Petes and Belleville Bulls combining for 67 points (23-44-67) over 54 games. After coming over from Peterborough, he tallied 41 points (14-27-41) with a plus-29 in 28 games for Belleville. Quine followed that up with eight goals and seven assists in 17 playoff games. He tweeted his excitement over being an Islander.