Islanders surprise: A Swiss winger in first round

LOS ANGELES - With their selection of Nino Niederreiter Friday night in the NHL draft, the Islanders took one step closer to becoming the Swiss outpost of the NHL.

The 17-year-old winger, who will join Islanders defenseman and countryman Mark Streit, became the highest-drafted Swiss player when the Islanders took him with the fifth pick in the first round.

"It's an unbelievable feeling. Even now I can't believe it's happening, that I'm the highest [drafted] Swiss player. It's just a great feeling," Niederreiter said, beaming. "I couldn't be happier to be part of the Islanders. With another Swiss guy there, Mark Streit, it's going to be great."

The Islanders then traded their 35th and 58th overall picks to the Blackhawks for their first-round pick at No. 30 and took an 18-year-old high school player from Minnesota, center Brock Nelson. The 6-3, 205-pounder scored 53 goals in 31 games for Warroad High School.

Islanders general manager Garth Snow said Niederreiter, a 17-year-old left wing, was their guy all along. While Taylor Hall was selected first overall and Tyler Seguin followed at No. 2, Snow said he worked the phones and tried trading down to spots 6, 7 and 8. Ultimately, he did not want to miss out on Niederreiter by dropping back too far.

"He's a big power forward, he can score goals, he's played extremely well in big games and we feel he's going to be a great fit for our group," Snow said.

Although Niederreiter garnered plenty of attention with a standout performance at the World Junior Hockey Championships and is considered to be a big-game, goal-scoring power forward, the pick still was somewhat surprising.

The Islanders saw only one of the three top defensemen - Erik Gudbranson to Florida at No. 3 - taken before their first pick came. Many expected the Islanders to jump at the chance to nab either Cam Fowler or Brandon Gormley to bolster their defense corps.

Even Niederreiter said he was surprised to go so early.

"Actually, a lot," Niederreiter said. "I was still thinking about Cam Fowler being an Islander and now I'm an Islander."

At 6-2, 205, Niederreiter has plenty of size and skill. He finished with 36 goals and 24 assists in 65 games with the WHL's Portland Winterhawks and developed the reputation as a hard competitor. He also has shown he's capable of flourishing in high-pressure, big-stage situations such as this year's World Juniors. He led the Swiss with two goals in a 3-2 overtime upset of the Russians.

"I think the World Juniors helped me a lot. It helped a lot for me and for my country, Switzerland, to make a statement," Niederreiter said.

Niederreiter hopes he can make the same type of statement in the NHL.

"I'm trying to be a star one day," he said. "I think I'm a two-way player with skills that's good defensively, and at the end, I just want to be a goal-scorer."