Scott Mayfield’s Future With Islanders at a Crossroads

New York Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield is at a crossroads as, for the first time in his nine-year NHL career, the 30-year-old is a pending unrestricted free agent.

New York Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield is at a crossroads.

For the first time in his nine-year NHL career, the 30-year-old is a pending unrestricted free agent.

His progression and play over these last five years has him in line for a substantial pay raise from his current -- and expiring -- $1.45 million AAV.

However, the Islanders have salary-cap issues, and with other areas of need -- a dominant winger and a puck-moving defenseman -- they may not be in the market to throw four-plus million at Mayfield.

"I've never been in this position, so it's new to me," Mayfield said. "The whole season was kind of new to me, without the kind of long-term security -- whatever you want to call it -- four years after, but, for me, it was all about just going out there and playing my game and just kind of bringing it as hard as I can every night.

"I think I did some good things this year. But yeah, I mean, it's always in your mind. It's definitely something I'm sure that I'll ramp up here the next month, couple of weeks. Who knows? I don't know what to expect or not."

Despite being able to test the waters this summer, Mayfield has never hidden how much he loves Long Island and this organization.

"My mind is still the same as what it's been. I love it here," Mayfield said. "My wife loves it here. We have our house not too far from here. It's a great setup. Making playoffs at UBS...that was special this year.

"So yeah, I think my mindset is the same as where I want to be, and we'll see what happens."

After 428 games for New York, Mayfield does believe that he deserves a long-term deal, which at 30, will likely be the final long-term deal of his career.

He made the most of his first long-term deal, which he signed back in 2018.

"I have a lot of trips to Bridgeport, back and forth. So my thinking that went into that deal, it was kind of a foot in the door that I just wanted to take, and when I got the chance, which was pretty early on in that deal, I wanted to just make sure I went and played my game and show what I can do," Mayfield said.

"And you know, the biggest thing for me is just proving to the organization, proving to other guys around the league, everyone, that I can play here, and it's 400 games later and another 150-something playoff games now."

Paid like a bottom-pairing defenseman, Mayfield was anything but for New York at the end of his contract, as he stepped up when Adam Pelech went down, also having to juggle different linemates throughout the season while still playing his brand.

In what was a grinding season for New York, Mayfield had the best offensive season of his career.

The St. Louis native potted a career-high six goals to go along with a career-high 18 assists and, you guessed it, a career-high 24 points.

His turnovers were down. His hits and blocks were up. He averaged 21:02 minutes per game, the first time he's ever eclipsed 20-plus minutes in his career.

In the regular season, he led the Islanders' backend in blocks (168) and penalty-kill minutes (220:58) but also led the backend in turnovers (64).

In six playoff games, Mayfield scored a goal and had two assists in 21:27 ATOI.

Game Two's missed high-sticking call in overtime, in which Canes Jordan Martinook clipped Mayfield up high, led to Game Two's defeat and is a sequence that Islanders fans and Mayfield will remember for a long time.

READ MORE: Missed High-Stick Call in OT Cost Islanders

He's a player that many teams in the NHL would want, given his role. He's six-foot-five, 220 pounds, and has the experience to help a young blue line or be the final piece to a blue line.

But there's a lot that goes into finding a new home if a new home is to be found.

"Free agency, it's kind of weird," Mayfield said. You look at comps. You can look at what you bring to different teams. You can look at places to live based off that. You can look at just money. There's so many factors that go into the decision to bring a guy in, for a player to choose where to go, and there's a lot (that goes) into it."

"It's something that I'm sure over the next couple of weeks will be something that will be visited a little bit more than I have."

That final line sounds like the Islanders and Mayfield's camp have done very little talking up to this point.

Now, Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello has done a tremendous job at retaining talent, especially on the backend.

The team's top defenseman Adam Pelech is making $5.75 million per year through 2028-29, while Ryan Pulock is making $6.15 million through 2029-30.

It wouldn't be crazy to think that Mayfield takes a hometown discount.

However, Mayfield's $1.45 million cap hit was a steal for New York, and it is time for Mayfield to get his worth, whether it's with the Islanders or somewhere else.

Losing Mayfield would not just be a tough loss for New York, who is slim on the right side, but it would be a tough pill to swallow for his teammates.

"He's extremely important to the group," Adam Pelech said. "I think the player that he has turned into, improving every year ever since -- I've been with him since I was 20 years old, so eight years -- he's made incredible improvements in his game.

"He's become such an important player to our team, and someone I think will be coveted around the league. So obviously, I'm hoping he comes back. I think everyone feels the same way."

Teammate Ryan Pulock shared that there's always that concern that Mayfield may not be coming back.

"There's always concern. You play with a guy for that long, a guy that's been here for quite a while and been a key part, playing his role and what he brings every night," Pulock said. "So yeah, when you're a free agent, and you don't have a contract at this time of year, I mean, anything can happen right?

"It's a business. It's something that he's going to deal with this summer and hopefully at the end of the day is back here."

Scott Mayfield becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1.