Confirmed with Link: Joe Finley claimed by NYI

[Jacob582]

NYIslanders ‏@NYIslanders

Joe Finley's message to #Isles fans: I'm excited to be here and looking forward to fitting in and being a part of the team.

 

[Rivet52]

Can't believe they finally got rid of him. Still young enough to turn it around but if the reigning Cup champs deem you expendable that's not a good sign.Definitely one of the worst top 5 draft busts of all time. I wonder who else put in a claim for him.

Not necessarily. He's never played an NHL game and the only reason why he never saw a game as a King was because he got stuck behind a really good Los Angeles defense and a bunch of prospects that made it before him. He wasn't going to ever make a team that has Doughty, Scuderi, Mitchell, Voynov, Martinez, and Greene, and at one point had Jack Johnson as well; even Jake Muzzin passed him on the depth chart. Hickey dropped fast but there's no reason to say he's a bust yet. He's had zero games of experience and has played in the AHL for like, three years but he would've never had a chance with the Kings and eventually he was intercepted now that he was waiver-eligible.

I'm sure a lot of teams put in a claim on a fourth overall pick. Islanders made sense as they need defensemen even with the Visnovsky fiasco occurring. Defensemen need more time anyway and what Hickey could now have that he wasn't going to get before is a chance to show what he can do.

If he finally makes his debut and sucks, then he goes back on waivers and the Kings likely claim him and send him to Manchester like nothing happened.

I have a feeling Finley will be back in our organization by that way quite soon. Of course, it could depend on Hickey impressing more than Finley but I still don't see the Isles not giving Hickey a few NHL games to see what happens; they're that thin on defense. Reinhart could also make it and makes me think even more that Big Joe will be back in Rochester sooner rather than later.

 

[CREW99AW]

Well, let's see if he sticks in Long Island. If Lubo Visnovsky stops pouting and returns to North America, I can't imagine he sticks, unless they keep him around as an 8D/14F enforcer-type (though they already have guys like Boulton and Martin who are more than happy to toss 'em).

If he doesn't stick, the Sabres can just claim him back, much the way the Coyotes did with Brett MacLean.

Vis is saying he'll report about his son has minor surgery on Feb. 9th and I'm counting the days, after seeing Finley play.

Strait and Aucoin have looked solid. The nicest thing I can say about Finley is that he's a big body.

 

[Rhett4]

Vis is saying he'll report about his son has minor surgery on Feb. 9th and I'm counting the days, after seeing Finley play.

Strait and Aucoin have looked solid. The nicest thing I can say about Finley is that he's a big body.

Well, he's a good defenseman...........for the AHL.