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’s at,” Mayfield said. “For me it’s the battles, that in-tight stuff — that’s what I need to get used to more. The little in-tight, physical play, that’s what’s hard to replicate in the summer. The long-stride bag skates you can replicate pretty easily in the summer.
“Every day’s big just getting reps in, familiarizing myself with Patty. I only got nine games, 10 games maybe under him [and] in a lot of those games, I was more worried about some other stuff that was going on than necessarily learning systems and all that. It’s a big camp for me.”
On the ice from Long Island
Sign up for Inside the Islanders by Ethan Sears, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.
Thank you
Anders Lee, who pushed hard to return from a torn ACL in time for the start of the 2021-22 season, knows the feeling.
“I had missed enough, in those six months, that I was itching at it,” Lee told The Post. “Same with Scotty. He’s itching to just feel 100 percent. He’s going through the process and he’s going to be great and everything. But he’ll get to a point here soon where he’s not even thinking about it.”
Not only did Mayfield get just a handful of games under Roy.
He only played 16 games on a pair with Mike Reilly, who is likely to be his partner at the start of the year.
And all of those came while he was worrying about his ankle.
Third pair or not, Roy said he expects Mayfield to play against top lines on occasion and pick up his role on the penalty kill.
Whatever the depth chart says, it would be a surprise to see Mayfield playing anything less than 18-20 minutes a night.
That is no small matter.
“It took all summer. I was able to feel better doing more and more,” Mayfield said. “It was a big reset. Only playing half the games last year, only playing one game feeling great. It was a long time, but like I said, I love where my body’s at. I love the time I put in this summer. It’s a big camp for me. I just gotta get ready for day one.”
