Nino Niederreiter was drafted fifth overall by the New York Islanders in 2010 and expected to be a top-six winger. After limited production and fourth-line minutes in 2012-13, Niederreiter sought a change of scenery and was traded at the 2013 NHL Draft. The Islanders sent Niederreiter and a third-round pick to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Cal Clutterbuck. Clutterbuck initially reacted with surprise to the trade but quickly grew to appreciate playing on Long Island. Clutterbuck spent 11 seasons with the Islanders, officially retired this summer, and continues to live and work on Long Island.
I'll never forget it,
I was in my basement in my old place in Brookhaven (Ontario). I thought I was getting traded to San Jose or California. I'm online looking at houses in Cali, and next thing you know, Gary Bettman gets up to thing and is like, 'I have a trade to announce,' and I'm like, 'Here we go, boys, I'm going out West!' And he's like, 'The Islanders trade for...' And I go straight to the fridge. I had a boot. Molson Canadian was giving out glass boots at the time. I had a boot, I filled it up from the tap at the time and put three of them down right away.
It just turned out to be the greatest place for me.
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