It was earlier this week when Islanders general manager Garth Snow proclaimed his utmost concern going into the NHL Draft was to land a veteran defenseman — if not more than one — and he was able to do it before drafting with the No. 4 overall selection last night in Pittsburgh.
Snow traded the team’s second-round pick in 2013 to the Ducks for Lubomir Visnovsky, the veteran Slovakian with 12 years of NHL experience who turns 36 in August. Visnovsky is set be a $5.6 million salary-cap hit next season, raising the Islanders’ payroll, which will be near the salary-cap floor no matter how the impending collective bargaining agreement turns out. Visnovsky’s actually salary for 2012-13 is reported to be around $3 million, and he will be a free agent afterwards.
Visnovsky has played for the Kings, Oilers and Ducks, and last season had six goals and 21 assists in 63 games for an Anaheim team that didn’t make the playoffs.
Snow had told The Post on Wednesday he was “looking to add two or three veteran defensemen,” considering the only returning blue-liners were Mark Streit, Andrew MacDonald and Travis Hamonic. He also added he expects one of his former top defensive draft picks to make the team out of training camp, leaning on Calvin de Haan (12th overall in 2009), Aaron Ness (40th overall in 2008) and Matt Donovan (96th overall in 2008).
“If two come out of training camp and deserve it, great,” Snow said. “Right now, we project at least one of those guys to step up.”
With their first-round pick, which Snow certainly dangled as trade bait, the Islanders selected Griffin Reinhart, a 6-foot-3, 207-pound Canadian who played this past season in the WHL and was rated as the fifth-best defenseman in the draft by NHL central scouting. He was the second defenseman taken in the draft behind Ryan Murray, selected second overall by the Blue Jackets.
“Griffin Reinhart is a calculated, efficient, smooth-skating defender,” Trent Klatt, involved in Islanders player development, told the team’s website. “He has good size and reach with his long stick.”