Technically, there is still a sliver of a chance.
Maybe Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck will be unsigned a few weeks from now. Maybe Lou Lamoriello will decide it’s worth a shot to sign the pair on a professional tryout contract (PTO). Maybe they will remind everyone in training camp of their value. Maybe they will make the team. Maybe they will stay Islanders for another year.
Almost certainly, though, that is a fantasy.
When Lamoriello said last week in a conversation with The Post that the Islanders would “probably be moving on” from two players who have amassed a combined 24 seasons and 1,541 games in blue-and-orange, it was really just a public acknowledgement of something that has been obvious for months.
The Islanders needed to transition away from their old core, for symbolic reasons as much as any other. And there were no better talismans for the past decade of Islanders hockey than Martin and Clutterbuck — two-thirds of the Identity Line and two guys who were both on expiring deals and north of 35 years old.
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It’s a difficult move to argue with for a multitude of reasons. But that is not at all to detract from what these two guys brought to the franchise.
It’s probably safe to say there were better players than them on every single Islanders team, even when the Identity Line was operating at its absolute best.
But in every season since 2010-11, when Martin made his full-time debut on the Island — there’s been at least one of them around for 14 straight seasons — there was no one, but no one, who better exemplified the culture and grit to which the Isles strived.
On the ice from Long Island
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“They’re some of the first ones that came up to me or sent me a message the first day I got here,” J-G Pageau said on breakup day. “Their voice is big in this locker room. Every time they speak, you have to listen to what they say. It’s smart. Not only about their work ethic, but the way they’re true professionals on the ice or in the room and great teammates, I have nothing but good things to say about them.”
“I felt like I’ve gone to both those guys at times for advice and help, whether it’s on-the-ice stuff, off-ice stuff, they always seem to be big-brother material for me since I came in,” Mat Barzal said. “Marty and Clutter, they’ve meant a lot to this team and this locker room. To me, especially, they’ve helped me a lot.”
“Ever since I came in when I was 19, both those guys have been guys where you ask what older guys have been great to you, you can easily say both those guys,” Noah Dobson said. “They treat everyone with such respect, and as a young guy, they make you feel part of the team, even though they’ve been in the league for a long time, played a lot of hockey. Two great leaders, they’re obviously big parts of our locker room.”
That is not, by the way, to overlook what the pair did as hockey players.
During the peak Barry Trotz years, the Martin-Casey Cizikas-Clutterbuck trio produced expected goals percentages of 55.3, 58.7 and 53.6, per MoneyPuck. That was the fourth line — without question, the best fourth line in hockey.
When opposing coaches talked about the Islanders being hard to play against, they were talking about Clutterbuck and Martin, who rank No. 1 and No. 2 in hits on the league’s all-time list. When the Islanders talked up their culture, they were talking about these guys.
“I think people get a small glimpse of what they mean,” Brock Nelson said on breakup day. “But for us, they’re guys you lean on a lot. Kinda go through life together, a lot of different things. You become really close with them.”
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The chances of Martin or Clutterbuck becoming the first non-dynasty player with his number in the UBS Arena rafters are low. But once Cizikas’ Isles career is over, the organization would be well-served to consider honoring the trio with an Identity Line banner in the mold of the Sabres’ French Connection banner, which honors Rene Robert, Gilbert Perreault and Richard Martin.
The last word here, naturally, goes to No. 53.
“It’s amazing,” the 33-year-old Cizikas said of playing with Martin and Clutterbuck. “That’s the best way I can put it. I was a young kid on the line. They definitely molded me into the player that I needed to be. They were there every second. I look up to those guys a lot. It just kinda translated into our friendship away from the arena as well. We’ve been through a lot together. It was definitely a lot of fun.”
Calling on Calle
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Lamoriello confirmed 2022 second-round pick Calle Odelius will play in North America this season after spending the past two in Sweden with Djurgardens IF.
With the NHL top six essentially locked in and Samuel Bolduc a heavy favorite to be the seventh defenseman, it’s unlikely Odelius (or for that matter, Isaiah George, who is set to jump from the OHL to the AHL) will end up on the Islanders’ roster.
Odelius also played just 10 games last season after suffering a broken ankle, and he spent a chunk of time in New York while rehabbing.
Still, it’s something to watch this preseason — and likely a reason to keep an eye on Bridgeport.
The new (old) guy
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Newly minted assistant coach Tommy Albelin — who once upon a time played for the Devils and coached in the organization while Lamoriello was there — will take over Doug Houda’s role working with the defensem*n and the penalty kill, Lamoriello said.
“Tommy comes with tremendous amount of experience,” Lamoriello said. “Certainly he played on two Cup teams. He’s coached in the American League, he’s coached internationally and he’s spent the last several years spearheading the Swiss program. Both the junior [team] and also the World Championships and also the Olympics. And played under, his playing days, Jacques Lemaire, Larry Robinson, Jacques Laperrierre, Pat Burns. I don’t think you could have a better tutelage as far as Tommy.
“I know him very well as an individual. Impeccable character. An outstanding hockey person.”
