Michael Grabner Michael René Grabner ( born October 5 , 1987 ) is an Austria n professional ice hockey player playing for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . Grabner grew up playing for the local team in Villach , EC VSV . He moved to North America at the age of 17 and joined the Spokane Chiefs of the major junior Western Hockey League ( WHL ) to further his hockey career . After his second season with the Chiefs , he was selected 14th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft . Grabner played one more season in the WHL before moving to the American Hockey League ( AHL ) , where he has played two seasons in the Canucks ' farm system . He was traded during the 2010 NHL Entry Draft to the Florida Panthers , but was claimed by the Islanders after Florida placed him on waivers with the intention of assigning him to their AHL affiliate . Grabner is one of three Austrians in the NHL ( and the only one who began his playing career in Austria ) ; the others , Thomas Vanek of the Buffalo Sabres and Andreas Nödl of the Philadelphia Flyers , both played junior and collegiate hockey in the United States . Playing career . Early career . Born in Villach , Grabner began playing hockey at the age of five . He joined his EC VSV ' s junior team , scoring 10 points over 13 games in 2002 – 03 . The following year , he improved to 32 goals and five assists over 23 games , while also debuting with EC VSV ' s men ' s team in the Austrian Hockey League . In the subsequent off - season , he was selected 22nd overall by the Spokane Chiefs in the Canadian Hockey League ( CHL ) Import Draft . Grabner believed that playing major junior in North America would help his goal of making it to the NHL . He had been exposed to Chiefs general manager Tim Speltz through a connection with his head coach in EC VSV , Greg Holst . Grabner left Austria to join Spokane for the 2004 – 05 WHL season , but suffered a broken collarbone in his first exhibition game . He missed approximately a month with the injury and scored his first WHL goal on October 29 , 2004 , in a 4 – 2 loss against the Seattle Thunderbirds . He went on to record 13 goals and 24 points in his rookie campaign . The following season , he improved to 36 goals and 50 points . Playing in his NHL draft year , he competed in the CHL Top Prospects Game and scored a goals and two assists . Shortly thereafter , he notched his first WHL career hat trick on February 4 , 2007 , in a 7 – 5 win against the Tri - City Americans . Grabner ' s draft stock went up significantly in the second half of the season , as he scored 22 goals in the final 23 games of 2005 – 06 . He entered the 2006 NHL Entry Draft having been ranked 23rd overall among prospects playing in North America by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau . He was chosen 14th overall by the Vancouver Canucks . Grabner was admittedly surprised to be chosen in that position of the draft , as he was projected to be a late first - round to early second - round pick . He had been scouted as highly - skilled offensively with his speed and his shot his strengths . He participated in his first NHL training camp in 2006 , before being returned to the Chiefs for the 2006 – 07 season . Early in his third WHL campaign , he suffered a hip pointer after receiving a slash . Due to lingering pain from the injury he was in and out of the lineup for several games before being sidelined for a month in November and early - December . In mid - February , he recorded six goals in a span of three games to be named WHL and CHL Player of the Week ( February 12 – 18 , 2007 ) . Grabner with 39 goals and 16 assists in 55 games for a point - per - game pace over the course of the season . However , he was criticized by his coach for his lack of physical play . Professional career . After the Chiefs were eliminated from the 2007 WHL playoffs , Grabner joined the Canucks ' American Hockey League affiliate , the Manitoba Moose for their final two games of the regular season and the playoffs . Grabner joined the Moose for his first full professional season in 2007 – 08 , recording 44 points in 74 games as a rookie . The following season , on February 26 , 2009 , Grabner was recalled by the Canucks to replace Pavol Demitra who suffered a fractured finger the night before . However , later that day , Grabner was reassigned to Manitoba after Demitra was deemed fit to play . He finished his second season with the Moose improving to 30 goals , tied for the team lead with Jason Krog , and 48 points in 66 games , helping the Moose to the league ' s best regular season record . After eliminating the Toronto Marlies and Grand Rapids Griffins in the first two rounds of the 2009 playoffs , Grabner scored the series - clinching goal in the sixth game of the semifinals , a 3 – 1 win over the Houston Aeros . Grabner finished with 17 points in 20 games as the Moose finished as Calder Cup runners - up . Coming off a successful second AHL season , Grabner was expected to challenge for a roster spot at the Canucks ' 2009 – 10 training camp , but was sent back down to the Moose before the start of the regular season . After a quick start with the Moose , however , scoring four goals in five games , he was called up by the Canucks on October 14 , 2009 , to replace injured star winger Daniel Sedin . Grabner then scored his first NHL goal on October 21 on the powerplay against Antti Niemi in a 3 – 2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks . Nine games into his initial stint with the Canucks , however , he injured himself during a pre - game warmup on November 1 . Grabner was kicking a soccer ball around with teammates before a game against the Colorado Avalanche when he rolled over his ankle . Upon recovering , he returned to the Moose on December 27 , 2009 , until being recalled on March 17 , 2010 , following an injury to Canucks forward Mikael Samuelsson . On April 2 , Grabner scored his first NHL career hat trick in a 5 – 4 shootout win against the Anaheim Ducks . Remaining with the club for the 2010 playoffs , Grabner notched his first career NHL post - season goal against Antti Niemi ( the same goaltender he scored his first regular season goal against ) on May 1 , 2010 , in the opening game of the second round against the Chicago Blackhawks . On June 25 , 2010 , during the 2010 NHL Entry Draft , Grabner was traded , along with Steve Bernier and the Canucks first round choice in the draft , the twenty - fifth selection ( used to select Quinton Howden ) to the Florida Panthers for Keith Ballard and Victor Oreskovich . Grabner attended the Panthers training camp , where it was expected he would compete for a position on the team , but failed to do so . On October 3 , 2010 , it was announced Grabner was placed on waivers by the Panthers , who intended to assign him to their AHL affiliate , the Rochester Americans . However he was claimed by the New York Islanders two days later . He played his first game with the Islanders on October 11 , 2010 against the New York Rangers . His first point with the Islanders came on October 13 . Grabner ' s first goal with the Islanders came against Craig Anderson of the Colorado Avalanche on October 16 . In January 2011 Grabner was selected to participate in the 2011 SuperSkills as one of twelve rookies in the competition , winning the fastest skater competition with times of 14 . 061 and 14 . 238 . In February Grabner led all rookies in scoring with 10 goals and 16 points . He also had a six game goal scoring streak which was the longest rookie streak since the 2006 – 07 season when Evgeni Malkin also scored in six straight . For his efforts Grabner was named rookie of the month . He finished his rookie year with 34 goals and 52 points , his goal total led all rookies , as well as the Islanders . Ranking third in points by a rookie Grabner earned a Calder Memorial Trophy nomination for NHL rookie of the year . Following his successful rookie year the Islanders signed Grabner to a five - year $ 15 million contract extension on May 13 , 2011 . < ref name = " http : / / www . tsn . ca / nhl / story / ? id = 365568 " > < / ref > International play . Grabner made his international debut with Austria in Division I play of the 2004 IIHF World U18 Championships in Minsk , Belarus . Underaged for the tournament at sixteen - years - old , he scored three goals and an assist in five games . The following year , he competed for Austria in Division I of the 2005 World Junior Championships , held in Great Britain . He recorded three points in four games as Austria finished third in Group A . Several months later , he was named to his second under - 18 team for the 2005 IIHF World U18 Championships , where Austria again competed in Division I play . Grabner tied for second in team - scoring with four goals and an assists over five games . Austria finished in fifth place out of six teams in Group A , coming within a loss of being relegated to Division II for the next year . He joined Austria in their qualifying tournament for the 2010 Winter Olympics in early 2009 and led the four team tournament in scoring with five goals ; Austria finished second to Germany and failed to qualify for the Olympics . Personal Life . On March 31 , 2011 , Grabner and his girlfriend Heather , whom he met while playing in Spokane , welcomed their first child , a son named Aidan . Through Twitter , Grabner kept his fans and followers updated through several tweets while Heather was in labor .