Isles sign first-round draft pick Nino Niederreiter

 The Islanders have signed first-round draft pick Nino Niederreiter to a three-year entry-level contract.

The news was revealed at a press conference where owner Charles Wang, head coach Scott Gordon and Islanders general manager Garth Snow addressed reporters for the team's media day.

Gordon demurred early into the press conference when asked about Niederreiter's performance at camp this week, but Snow then announced the signing and brought the 18-year-old Swiss native up to the podium to share his thoughts.

"It's just fantastic," said Niederreiter, who the Islanders selected fifth overall at the draft this June.

Niederreiter's contract is a standard entry-level deal worth $810,000 per year, an average annual signing bonus of $90,000 and up to $1.925 million in potential bonuses. The deal was struck early this morning before his agent flew back to Switzerland.

Gordon said Niederreiter played extremely well in last week's rookie games in Boston and will see how he performs in training camp before making a decision on whether to keep him up with the big club or send him back to his junior team.

"Nino's had a great junior career," Gordon said. "We know he's skilled, he was drafted high,  he's a big body and he skates well. We'll just have to see if he is able to compete against men."