Islanders sign Matt Martin to one-year contract

The New York Islanders have announced that they have agreed to a one-year contract with winger Matt Martin.

There is currently no information about Martin’s salary on the deal, or if there are any signing/performance bonuses or no-trade/move clauses.

Martin was an unrestricted free agent after his four-year contract with a $1.5 million cap hit concluded at the end of the 2023-24 season. After failing to sign a contract with any team during the summer, he signed a professional tryout contract with the Isles during training camp and played with the team during the preseason. With the long-term injury to Anthony Duclair, the team likely looked to sign Martin to give the team more bodies on the wing.

In 2 preseason games for the Isles, Martin was held pointless in 28:03 of ice time. He also had 1 shot, 5 hits and 2 blocked shots.

Martin also had 4 goals and 4 assists for 8 points in 57 games during the 2023-24 season with the Isles. It was just the fourth time in his career that he failed to hit the 10-point mark in a season, although three of the four times were not in a full 82-game season.

Martin was also pointless in 3 playoff games in 2024 as the Isles lost in five games to the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round.

Martin was a fifth-round pick of the Isles in the 2008 NHL Draft, and after making his NHL debut in the 2009-10 season, he spent seven seasons in Long Island before departing to unrestricted free agency in 2016. He then signed a deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he spent two seasons before he was traded back to the Islanders as a cap dump for Eamon McAdam. Martin has since spent the past six seasons with the Islanders.

The Islanders currently sit in fifth in the Metropolitan Division with a 3-2-2 record. They’ll look to build off of Friday’s 4-3 overtime win over the New Jersey Devils when they host the Florida Panthers on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. EST.