Islanders Scott Mayfield ready to go full tilt after recovering from ankle surgery
Scott Mayfield last played in a game in February.But the last time he played at full strength? That was all the way back last October, on Opening Night 2023. The start-stop season that followed that victory against the Sabres in which Mayfield broke his ankle blocking a shot culminated in the decision to undergo surgery after the defenseman tried over 41 games to look like his usual self but could not.
It all added up to a frustrating season in the first of a seven-year contract. Mayfield had dealt with injuries before, but none that required surgery and none that derailed a season like this one.Even his optimistic prognosis on breakup day, when he said his summer training wouldn’t be affected beyond the first couple of weeks, turned out to be not quite right. “Definitely took some time,” Mayfield said.
“I jumped on the ice midsummer.Up until a month, month-and-a-half ago, it was a grind.
It was a long rehab process.” The upshot, Mayfield said, is that the ankle feels good now.He is ready to go.
And the Islanders, who lost depth defenseman Robert Bortuzzo to free agency, very much need that self-diagnosis to be correct. As things stand right now, Mayfield is likely to slot into the third pair on a blue line that — when all six starters are healthy — looks like it can roll with anyone.On paper, it’s a strength. What the Islanders don’t have, however, is much depth beyond their presumed top six.
Samuel Bolduc, a lefty, struggled under Lane Lambert last season, couldn’t crack the lineup once Patrick Roy took over and required a conditioning stint in Bridgeport.Bortuzzo is gone.
If there is an injury on the right side, then the Islanders will look to … Grant Hutton? Aidan Fulp? Bueller? Asking for 82 games from all six defensemen is as realistic as asking Santa Claus for a yacht.But avoiding the injury-riddled first half they suffered last season would be nice, and so would Mayfield’s durability returning. “I love where my body�...