Islanders: Predicting Matt Martin & Andy Greene Contracts

The New York Islanders are likely to bring back Matt Martin and Andy Greene. What would that cost the Isles to bring them both back?

After trading Devon Toews, the likelihood of the Islanders bringing back Andy Greene rose even higher. As for Matt Martin, Lou Lamoriello seemed to have an interest in bringing him back all along.

Both of these moves should be low-cost, which is good considering the Islanders’ cap crunch. Starting with Martin, it’s pretty evident why Lamoriello wants him back.

It’s no secret, the Islanders value the Martin – Cizikas – Clutterbuck line a ton. One of Lamoriello’s first moves was trading for Martin who he originally paid $10 million to go to Toronto to play for the Leafs.

Martin had five playoff goals for the Isles this year and was still his old self as a checker. He may not fight like he used to but he still holds his own. Coming off a $2.5 million AAV, he’s going to have to take a significant pay cut to stay, which is expected at 31 years old.

Prediction: two-years $1.4 million ($700k AAV)

I think Martin gets the minimum over two-years. He loves Long Island, and he obviously wants to stay here so he should take a discount. Unfortunately in the COVID market, I can’t see him getting much more than this.

As for Andy Greene, he was coming off a $5 million cap hit from his last deal. Since Greene is a couple of weeks away from his 38th birthday I expect it to be a significant cut in pay for the veteran.

In 10 regular-season games for the Isles, he averaged 16:32 a night and had three assists. In the playoffs, Greene played in 21 games and played 17:40 a night with four points (2 goals, 2 assists). With Toews gone, he should be brought back on the cheap.

Prediction: one-year $1.25 million

He’ll get the Cody Cici treatment with this deal which is likely more than fair. His role would likely be to play on the third pair with Noah Dobson to get him up to speed. It’s almost like when the Isles brought in Dennis Seidenberg a couple of years ago. He provided a decent veteran presence in a rotational role.

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The Isles have $8.9 million in cap space right now, so if they made these deals that would bring them to $6.95 million in cap space. Still, more moves would have to be made but it seems more than likely that both of these veterans will be returning to the Isles for 2020-2021.