Islanders GM Snow on Boychuk: 'He would obviously fit into our long-term plans'

New York Islanders general manager Garth Snow is a gambling man. 

Last season the oft-criticized general manager, best known perhaps for his mastery of the waiver wire or his signing of Rick DiPietro to the single worst contract of the salary cap era, gambled early in the year by trading for pending unrestricted free agent Thomas Vanek. That deal backfired in a major way.

This season Snow doubled down, trading even more draft picks for defenseman Johnny Boychuk. The early returns suggest that this time around Snow bet on the right horse.

So it's no surprise that he's eager to lock up the hard nosed blue-liner who has excelled as the Islanders' minute leader through his first eight games with the club.

"We wouldn’t move two second-round picks — that’s pretty significant — if we didn’t want to have him here long term," Snow explained to SNY TV, by way of Pro Hockey Talk. "We’re not going to talk publicly, I never have regarding contract negotiations, but I think the telltale sign is when you give up what we gave up to get [Boychuk], he would obviously fit into our long-term plans."

The 30-year-old Boychuk is logging major minutes on the Islanders power play, and has a more well-rounded game than the likes of Brooks Orpik - who signed a mammoth five-year, $27.5 million contract this past summer. Could Boychuk's next deal exceed $6.5 million? 

It surely will if the form he's shown in October holds up over the balance of this season.

with H/T to Pro Hockey Talk