The New York Islanders announced today that Andrew MacDonald has been named an alternate captain. MacDonald joins fellow alternate captain Kyle Okposo , and team captain John Tavares .

MacDonald, 27, enters his seventh professional season and fifth full NHL season with the Islanders in 2013-14. The Judique, NS, native scored 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in 48 games last season, leading the team in average time on ice (23:31) for the second straight year and tying for third in the National Hockey League in blocked shots (123), two shy of the league lead.

The Islanders selected MacDonald in the sixth round (160th overall) of the 2006 NHL Draft. In 232 career games with the Islanders, MacDonald has 65 points (13 goals, 52 assists) with a plus-8 rating and 105 penalty minutes. In 2010-11, he led all Islanders defensemen in scoring and set a career high with 27 points (four goals, 23 assists) and a plus-9 rating in 60 games.

MacDonald played parts of four seasons with the Islanders’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. In 114 career AHL games, he scored 46 points (13 goals, 33 assists). The 6’1, 190-pound defenseman also spent parts of one season in the ECHL, scoring 12 points (one goal, 11 assists) in 37 games with the Utah Grizzlies in 2007-08.

Prior to his professional career, MacDonald played two seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with the Moncton Wildcats, totaling 104 points (20 goals, 84 assists) in 133 games. He helped Moncton win the President Cup, awarded to the QMJHL Champion, in 2006.