Trotz When media spoke with New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello before Day 1 of the NHL Draft and following the event, the priority still remains to re-sign their pending free agents. Defenseman Scott Mayfield [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/features/scott-mayfield-new-york-islanders-adam-pelech-ryan-pulock] is one of the more intriguing decisions, as his asking price may be out of the Islanders' price range despite his words on wanting to remain with the club. Per NHL insider Pierre LeBrun, talks are ongoing between Mayfield and the Islanders with the start of free agency less than 24 hours away. "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." Mayfield continued: "My mind is still the same as what it's been. I love it here. 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." Here's an excerpt from Stefen Rosner's latest piece: [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/features/new-york-islanders-josh-bailey-semyon-varlamov-scott-mayfield-pierre-engvall-oliver-wahlstrom] The situation with Scott Mayfield is such an interesting one. A bottom-pairing defenseman on the surface, Mayfield has been an integral part of the Islanders, with his average minutes per game more or less increasing in each season but one since 2016-17. This past season was Mayfield's best, setting career-highs across the board with six goals and 18 assists for 24 points in 21:02 minutes per game. He also racked up over 100 hits (107) for the first time since 2018-19, with a career-high 168 blocks. The 30-year-old has been on a team-friendly $1.45 million annual value since 2018, so it would be a tough sell for him to retake a team-friendly deal. He deserves to be paid handsomely for his work, and it's not out of the realm of possibility that the big-body, penalty-killing defenseman with some sneaky offense gets close to $4 million on the open market. If the ask is over $3.5 million annually, the Islanders will likely need to let him walk.
