Islanders stay aggressive, acquire Dan Boyle from Sharks for conditional draft pick

Give Garth Snow and the Islanders credit: they’re certainly trying.

The team acquired defenseman Dan Boyle from the San Jose Sharks on Thursday in exchange for a conditional 2015 draft pick. The pick will be a fifth-rounder if Boyle, who’s set to be an unrestricted free agent, fails to sign a new deal with the Isles this summer, while it’ll be a fourth-round pick if Boyle does sign a deal on the Island.

It’s the third big move Snow’s made in the last two weeks. He acquired pending free agent goaltender Jaroslav Halak from the Washington Capitals for a weak draft pick, then successfully negotiated a a four-year contract with him, nailing down the Islanders’ future in the crease for the first time in a long time.

Snow also opted to punt on a decision to send the Buffalo Sabres their first-round draft pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, instead opting to send their 2015 first-rounder to Buffalo -- a tacit admission that the Islanders will be better this coming season than they were this past season.

Boyle would help if he does sign. The 37-year-old led a very good Sharks team in ice time this past season and would be a critical piece as the Islanders look to return to relevancy in the Metropolitan Division. Halak obviously helps, too, and Garth Snow is counting on some guys returning from injury as well.

Top defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky played just 24 games last season as he dealt with concussion issues. He’ll be back next season. John Tavares played just 59 games after getting hurt at the Olympics, and he’ll be healthy next year.

Those two, plus Boyle (if he signs) and Halak certainly make the Islanders a better team.