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Islanders: Scott Mayfield Expectations For 2021-2022

ByMatt O'Leary|
UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - JUNE 23: Scott Mayfield #24 of the New York Islanders celebrates after scoring a goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the third period in Game Six of the Stanley Cup Semifinals during the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Nassau Coliseum on June 23, 2021 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - JUNE 23: Scott Mayfield #24 of the New York Islanders celebrates after scoring a goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the third period in Game Six of the Stanley Cup Semifinals during the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Nassau Coliseum on June 23, 2021 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Scott Mayfield had an interesting 2021 season for the New York Islanders. In the regular season, his play was questionable. Sure, 15 points (2 goals, 13 assists) is about on-par for production that doesn’t paint the full picture.

When you look at the six regular defensemen the Islanders put out there on a regular basis he was fifth in CF%, fifth in GF%, fourth in SCF%, and fifth in xGA. Every time a pair was hemmed in or there was a bad penalty or icing it felt like it was Mayfield was on the other end.

The playoffs was a different story though. In the first five games of the playoffs, he had four points and was a plus-6. He’d end up finishing with just six points in the 19 playoff games but he was much more steady defensively.

One of the best things about Mayfield, even if you think he’s playing over his head on the second pair (which is a fair complaint), is his contract. In January of 2018, the Islanders extended Mayfield to a five-year $7.25 million deal ($1.45 million AAV).

Now, while they’re in the midst of their cap crunch, they have a d-man that they can play 20 minutes a night making under $1.5 million against the cap.

Scott Mayfield 2021 Expectations

One of the issues I ran into when trying to predict this is where he is going to play, and who he will be playing with? Ryan Pulock will be the righty up top, but Noah Dobson and Scott Mayfield could flip-flop.

Right now, the safest bet seems to be that Mayfield will be the second-pair defenseman. I’ll also predict that his partner is not yet on the roster. I have no idea who will be playing on the left side but I don’t think they’d go with internal options like Sebastian Aho, Samuel Bolduc, or Robin Salo.

With that lack of information in mind, my best projection for Mayfield is 18 points (4 goals, 14 assists) while playing roughly 19:45 per night.

Mayfield will also continue to play on the penalty kill for the Islanders in 2021, continuing his role as a steady depth guy on a championship-level team.

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