Griffin Reinhart, right, a defenseman, smiles with officials from the New York Islanders after being chosen fourth overall in the first round of the NHL hockey draft on Friday, June 22, 2012, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
The New York Islanders used all seven of their picks in the NHL draft on defensemen, accomplishing general manager Garth Snow’s goal of improving their blue line.
The Islanders started out by making Griffin Reinhart the fourth overall pick. Snow also acquired veteran Lubomir Visnovsky from the Anaheim Ducks for a second-round selection in next year’s draft.
The acquisition of Visnovsky provides coach Jack Capuano with two solid pairings on defense. Most likely, he will have a top unit of Mark Streit and Travis Hamonic, followed by Visnovsky and Andrew MacDonald.
Ville Pokka of Finland was picked in the second round. The Islanders selected Adam Pelech in the third, Loic Leduc (fourth round), Doyle Somrby (fifth round), Jesse Graham (sixth round) and Jake Bischoff (seventh round).
New York, which hasn’t made the playoffs since 2007 and has just one postseason appearance since 2004, picked fourth for the fourth time.
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