Lamoriello on UFAs Martin, Clutterbuck: ‘The door never closes’
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The New York Islanders haven’t made a lot of changes to their roster this off-season but the two longest-tenured Islanders from last season aren’t under contract to the team.
Forwards Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck, who are seventh and 12th in games played in Islanders franchise history, remain unsigned as free agents.
However, Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello has not closed the door on the possibility of either player returning.
“The door never closes on any player that’s been in the organization for the number of years they’ve been,” said Lamoriello in an interview with The Athletic. “They know the situation we have; we’ve communicated with them. As far as plans going forward, it’s no different than at the end of [last] year for us.”
Martin is coming off a four-year, $6 million contract he signed with the Islanders in January of 2021. In 955 career NHL games, Martin has played 12 of his 14 NHL seasons with the franchise.
In 57 games last season, the 35-year-old winger had four goals and four assists.
Clutterbuck has played for the Islanders since being acquired on June 30, 2013, from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Nino Niederreiter.
The 36-year-old played in his 1,000th career NHL game on Nov. 23 against the Philadelphia Flyers. In 82 games last season, he had seven goals and 19 points.
He is coming off a two-year, $3.5 million contract extension he signed in March 2022.
Forwards Anthony Duclair, a veteran of 563 NHL games, and former KHL forward Maxim Tsyplakov were the most notable additions up front so far for the Islanders this summer. Last season, younger forwards such as Kyle MacLean and Simon Homstrom established themselves as bottom-six forwards in the NHL.
Lamoriello notes that while Martin and Clutterbuck are valuable for their experience, he is prepared to go into the 2024-25 season with the roster as is.
“It’s not uncommon,” said Lamoriello. “You’re talking about two quality people — we’re not saying they won’t be here — but I have total confidence in this group that people will come forward when given the opportunity to do so. This is the way that sports go: You never replace certain types of people, but you always have to move on at some point.”