Scott Mayfield was one of the most talked about New York Islanders’ players this season, given his untimely penalties, multiple serious injuries, and worrisome contract extension. In the first year of his seven-year, $3.5 million average annual value (AAV) contract extension, he played just 41 games due to a Game 1 ankle injury to start the regular season, a mid-season upper-body injury, and a season-ending lower-body injury suffered in February.
Mayfield’s Offense
Mayfield is a defensive defenseman who has never been relied on for his offense. He had just five assists with no goals in his 41 games. While this was expected, seeing such minimal offensive production is still frustrating, especially given his poor defensive performance. This was the first time he finished a season with zero goals since he turned pro. He also continuously failed to create offensive chances through breakout passes, and his poor decision-making proved costly in the offensive, defensive, and neutral zones.
Mayfield Defensively
Mayfield’s defense was not much better. It starts with his lack of discipline late in games. During his final few games before his injury, it felt as if he was taking detrimental penalties late in each game. The most notable was in the Stadium Series game against the New York Rangers where he took a tripping penalty against Alexis Lafreniere with just under 2:30 to go in the third period. That was his second penalty in the final 10 minutes of the game where the Islanders once held a 5-3 lead. The Rangers proceeded to score and won the game in overtime.
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Mayfield finished the season with 35 penalty minutes, close to one minor penalty every other game. This is nothing new for him, but this season felt all the more noticeable because of the poor timing. He also made poor decision after poor decision with the puck, finishing with 35 giveaways, 29 of which were in the defensive zone. He was weak with the puck, frequently needing assistance from his defense partner to clear it from the neutral zone.
His skating also struggled, looking as if the ankle injury he sustained early in the season lingered throughout the season. While these injuries make it understandable as to why he struggled, he will need to improve in all defensive aspects to help the team out next season. While his presence was not missed at even strength, his loss severely impacted the Islanders’ penalty kill.
The Islanders’ penalty kill was the worst in the NHL, something that has not been said about this team in a long time. It struggled with Lane Lambert as head coach, did not get much better under Patrick Roy, and looked especially terrible in the playoffs. The team was forced to deploy Noah Dobson, and even Robert Bortuzzo as penalty kill defensemen at times, significant downgrades from Mayfield. In a weird turn of events, Mayfield leveled up his game when on the penalty kill, having just two turnovers in 99 penalty-killing minutes. He was far from perfect, but his struggles were almost entirely at even strength.
Final Grade: D+
Mayfield finishes the season with a frustrating D+. There is not a single player or coach in the Islanders organization who would argue the contrary, and Mayfield was evidently frustrated with how his season played out. Luckily, this uncharacteristic season is over, and he is poised to improve next season. Before this season, fans had a high reputation for Mayfield. He was always great in his role, playing a shutdown defenseman that his coach could deploy against any team’s top lines. As next season approaches, expect him to learn and grow from this past season.
Since it has been confirmed Mayfield played the entirety of the season with a major ankle injury, a full offseason of rest should ensure a bounce-back in 2024-25. Any improvement in his game will go a long way for the Islanders, who hope to get back to the hard-nose, hate-to-play-against style of hockey they ran under Barry Trotz.