NY Islanders Enforcer Matt Martin Disagrees with Lou Lamoriello On His Future

Just two weeks ago, New York Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello made the comment that he didn't expect to re-sign longtime enforcer Matt Martin, currently an unrestricted free agent, for the coming season.

But Martin, interestingly, seems to disagree with his general manager's notion, as he told Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News this past week:

I’m focused on playing here, first and foremost. We’ll see how things unfold.

It's not often that a player's intention on a roster move usurps that of his GM, but hey, Martin can be a pretty forceful fellow.

The 35-year-old has spent 13 of his 15 NHL seasons on Long Island, and it sounds like he has no desire to retire just yet, and is intent on spending his 16th season there as well.

As we reported earlier this month, Lamoriello said "We’ll probably be moving on" from both Martin and another veteran UFA Cal Clutterbuck. But then Lou added, "That isn’t saying things can’t change".

Martin played just 57 games this past season for New York due to a series of injuries that kept him out of the lineup quite a bit. He registered eight points and 151 hits. But the season before last, he appeared pretty healthy, playing 81 games, and handing out 295 hits.

Martin and his family are longtime members of the Long Island community, and they are not keen on relocating, per Rosner.

He needs just 45 games to reach the 1,000-game club in the NHL, and he hopes to be back in his 4th-line duties with the Islanders this coming season to accomplish that feat.

The Isles are almost a million dollars over the cap right now, so any further signings will need to wait for the time being.