Homecoming for Isles’ tough guy Martin

Lamoriello brings back enforcer/protector from Maple Leafs

July 5, 2018 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Matt Martin played his tough guy role to a tee in Toronto, but now he’s back with his original franchise, the New York Islanders, after being acquired in a trade with the Maple Leafs on Tuesday. AP Photo by Mark Zaleski

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Unlike former Islanders team captain John Tavares, Matt Martin can’t wait to put the orange and blue back on.

“I really am just ecstatic to be back,” Martin told NewYorkIslanders.com Tuesday after being acquired from Toronto for goaltending prospect Eamon McAdam.

The 29-year-old forward, who left New York for Toronto via free agency two summers ago, spent his first seven NHL seasons with the Islanders after being selected in the fifth round of the 2008 Draft.

Known primarily for his tough guy persona on the ice, Martin also flourished alongside former and soon-to-be reunited linemates Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck, forming what NHL analysts viewed as the most productive fourth line in the league during the 2015-16 campaign.

Martin, a long-time fan favorite on Long Island as well as Brooklyn, has strong local roots here.

His fiancé, Sydney, the daughter of WFAN personality and former NFL MVP Boomer Esiason, lives on Long Island, and his Matt Martin Hockey Camp just wrapped up its fourth season at the team’s Northwell Health Ice Center practice facility.

Ironically, it was Tavares’ free-agent defection to Toronto earlier this week that put Martin on the market.

And Isles team president and general manager Lou Lamoriello, who recently completed a three-year rebuilding stint with the Maple Leafs, was more than happy to bring the protector/enforcer back to his original franchise.

“Not everyone gets that opportunity to come back to a team they love, so to be able to have this opportunity, I feel very blessed,” noted Martin, who registered a career-best 19 points to go with 119 penalty minutes during his last season with the Isles.

A five-time winner of the team’s annual Bob Nystrom Award, given to the player who best exemplifies leadership, hustle and dedication, Martin should fit in perfectly with a young, driven team eager to shake off the departure of Tavares and return to the playoffs for the first time since his swan song campaign here.

“I think both [Lamoriello and Head Coach Barry Trotz] like big physical teams,” Martin said.

“If you look at their teams, they’ve had aggressive forechecking and that’s something Clutter, Casey and I always love to do. That’s the most important thing, finding that identity and sticking to it.”

While the former fourth-line mates might get bumped up to the third line this coming season, Martin will likely still be responsible for engaging anyone who gets their stick up on budding Islander forwards like reigning Calder Trophy winner Mathew Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier.

“We had a lot of success together and I enjoyed playing with those two,” Martin said of Cizikas and Clutterbuck. “We have good rapport and good chemistry and want to play the game the same way. They are two guys that I’ve certainly missed.”

He also missed being an Islander, something Tavares had apparently moved past when he accepted his front-loaded seven-year, $77 million pact with Toronto instead of the eight-year, $100 million-plus contract the Isles had on the table before July 1.

“It really is a place I’ve grown to love,” Martin said.

“It’s just such a fun place to live and I’ve always had that part of me that’s cared so much about this organization even when I was in Toronto.”

Isle Have Another: Lamoriello continued his organizational makeover this week as he added Lane Lambert, who spent the previous four seasons coaching alongside Trotz in Washington, as an assistant coach. The 75-year-old Hall of Fame executive also tried to enhance the team’s troublesome goaltending situation by signing netminder Robin Lehner to a one-year deal. Lehner, 27, had a 3.01 goals-against average with a .908 save percentage in 53 games with the Buffalo Sabres last season. The native of Sweden has a career GAA of 2.82 over 219 games with Buffalo and his original team, the Ottawa Senators.

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In other local sports news, the Brooklyn Cyclones announced this week that Mets ace Noah Syndergaard will pitch for the Class A short-season franchise against the Staten Island Yankees at Coney Island’s MCU Park on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m.

Syndergaard has been missing from the parent club’s rotation since May 25 due to a strained ligament in his right thumb. The flame-throwing right-hander, known as “Thor” for his resemblance to the Marvel super hero or Nordic descent, isn’t any stranger to Brooklyn.

He also made a rehab start for the Cyclones last September while he was working his way back from torn muscle in his right arm.

Gates will open at 2 p.m. Sunday and the first 2,000 fans in attendance will receive a Toy Truck courtesy of NY 811.

After the game, kids will also be invited to run the bases.