Islanders' Scott Mayfield may be done for the season
Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield sits before a face off against the Seattle Kraken at UBS Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Islanders placed Scott Mayfield on long-term injured reserve on Tuesday and there is a chance the defenseman is done for the regular season and will require surgery.
President and general manager Lou Lamoriello said Mayfield will be out four to six weeks and then be reassessed. The Islanders also activated forward Hudson Fasching (lower body) off LTIR and Lamoriello added defenseman Robert Bortuzzo (injured reserve, lower body) has been skating on his own for a week and could be “just another week away,” after being out since Jan. 4.
That will all factor in to how Lamoriello approaches Friday’s NHL trade deadline.
“I think that they’ve said that they’re playing where they’re capable of playing right now,” Lamoriello said before the Islanders topped the Blues, 4-2, on Tuesday night at UBS Arena. “We have to continue that. As far as adding, if you can, you do it. Are we thinking about subtracting? Absolutely not.”
The Islanders have approximately $135,000 of space under the $83.5 million salary cap but can exceed that by about $2.5 million thanks to LTIR.
Mayfield, in the first season of a seven-year, $24.5 million deal, missed his fifth game on Tuesday and also was sidelined at the start of the season with an ankle injury that lingered after he returned.
“You hate to lose a guy like him,” coach Patrick Roy said.
The regular season ends on April 17.
Said Lamoriello, “It’s come to the point where we have to shut it down and then a decision will be made after four to six weeks whether surgery is needed.”
Isles files
Mathew Barzal extended his point streak to five games with the Islanders’ second empty-net goal of the season, and second in three games … The Islanders have won three straight in regulation for the first time this season.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
