EAST MEADOW, NY–After playing in more than a combined 2,000 career games, no one would blame either Matt Martin or Cal Clutterbuck for making the difficult decision to retire from the NHL. In fact, it’s what many half-expected of them, with the season now officially over for the New York Islanders.
But even though the door has closed on the Islanders’ season, neither Martin nor Clutterbuck is doing so on their careers, as they both announced on Friday at Northwell Health Ice Center that they have no plans to retire.
“The retirement narrative wasn’t one I started. I certainly plan on playing hockey,” Martin said. “I’ll take it day by day to get healthy here and start building myself back up to get ready for next season. Obviously, the future for myself is unknown at the moment, but that stuff will sort itself out.”
Both Martin, 34, and Clutterbuck, 37, are pending unrestricted free agents. For nearly a decade, they’ve made up two-thirds of one of the most revered lines in all of hockey, playing an instrumental role in the revitalization of the Islanders during that span. But as the open market calls, there is a real possibility neither will be back with the Islanders next season.
“I love to play, and obviously, I love to play here,” said Clutterbuck. “This has been a second home for a very long time. I put a lot into my time here and had great experiences. I will be an Islander for life. Whether I get the chance to play here next year or not that’s out of my control. But, at the same time, I have some time to make a decision and gather information, look at the options and go from there.”
By playing in every single game for the first time in his career this season, Clutterbuck served himself well to earn a new contract for next year with the Islanders or another organization. The same, however, cannot be said for Martin.
The veteran spent three separate stints on the injured list, including one with a lower-body injury that held him out of action for the Islanders’ final two postseason games.
Still, Martin remains as committed to the game as ever and hopes to land a deal that will allow him to play as much as possible.
“Every player wants to play 82 games, so that would be a motivation,” said Martin. “You want to get off to a great start and be in the lineup, but certainly, I’ve been in situations before, even this year, where it was time to come out of the lineup. That’s part of it, but you never want to. In a perfect world, I would have the best season of my career next year and play all 82 games. If my mindset was to play in half the season, I don’t think I’d be very useful. You want to be a competitor as a player, and you want to be in the lineup every night.”
While several factors will go into their respective free agency decisions, one would think the fact neither has ever hoisted the Stanley Cup would be one that weighs heavily for both of them.
Surely, the two have an affinity for the Islanders, but after another early exit from the playoffs, a reunion doesn’t feel advantageous for any of the parties involved at this point.
“It’s obvious when you look at the roster that there are some younger players coming in that are going to demand more ice time,” said Islanders president/general manager Lou Lamoriello. “Whatever decisions have to be made will be in the best interest of the team to have success. We have to take out of the equation personal situations. We certainly love loyalty, but it can’t impede progress.”
“You wonder about it for sure, but I don’t I don’t know what the future holds,” Martin said. “I’m not going to be emotional about something when I don’t know what’s going to happen. All that stuff will sort itself out in the end. We’ll see what the future has in store for myself and my family and we’ll go from there.
