Islanders sign Defenseman Andy Sutton

Late Friday night the Islanders signed 6'6 Andy Sutton to a 3 year contract.

Sutton will essentially take the place of the departed Sean Hill on this year's blueline. Though rumors swirled that the Islanders would in fact sign Danny Markov, they could never come together on a contract. GM Garth Snow found out what many other GM did a while back, that Markov wanted ridiculous money and he wouldn't budge on his demands. After realizing that....Andy Sutton was a no brainer.

Sutton plays a similar game to Sean Hill, he's physical, blocks a ton of shots, and has a hard shot from the point. The fact that he's 5 years younger than Hill and is 6 inches shorter and about 35 lbs. lighter all makes his 3 year $9 million deal a solid one.

Whats next you ask??

Well all signs point to the Isles bringing in a 3rd line Center with offensive potential. Last year Garth did just that with Viktor Kozlov, this season it's looking like it will be Josef Vasicek. Vasicek split last season between Nashville and Carolina getting 22 points in 63 games. Vasicek is still young as he'll turn 27 next month, and displays the type of work ethic that this team is trying to achieve. Though nothing is set in stone....rumors point to this getting done.

An interesting rumor floating around is that the Islanders kicked the tires on Peter Forsberg. Now from what I understand Forsberg is still recovering from offseason foot surgery and wouldn't even be able to play regularly until around Christmas time, but the fact that we have inquired and even gone so far as to keep a pulse on the Forsberg situation....is a very positive sign.

If anyone looks at Greg Logan's blog today....you'll get a little more insight into the day most Islander fans dubbed "Black Sunday". It appears that Garth Snow out bid teams for both Ryan Smyth and Chris Drury, he also had a big offer in on Scott Hannan and remember he contact Bill Guerin on that day as well.

At least we know that Garth had a big plan going into UFA and it just seems that the players he was gunning for were already set on where they wanted to go. As for this coming season....with UFA's like Patrick Marleau, Dany Heatley, Marian Hossa...and others....it's looking like the Isles will be in a position to offer those deals again. Also, another season like last year would further the cause, showing players that the Islanders will be a contending team for years to come.

Enjoy this beautiful weather!

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