Islanders legend retires after 16 NHL seasons filled with grit

Billy Heyen

Islanders legend retires after 16 NHL seasons filled with grit image

Matt Martin wrote his name in NHL lore in his own way.

He was never much of a scorer, but he was indispensable for 16 seasons, all but two spent with the New York Islanders (and then those two interspersed with the Maple Leafs).

On Tuesday, he officially retired from his playing career and was named a special assistant to the general manager with the Islanders.

Martin, 36, played in 32 games in his final season.

He was a fifth-round pick in 2008 and finished with 178 points in 987 NHL games.

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His legacy is his grit.

Martin led the NHL in hits for five consecutive seasons from 2011-2016.

He finishes his career ranked second in NHL history with 3,936 hits. Only Cal Clutterbuck (4,029) has more.

Martin also earned 1,168 penalty minutes in his career.

He never averaged more than 13 minutes per game in a season in his career, but he still played the majority of games in almost every one of his seasons.

Martin was the classic fourth-line forward that every good team needs.

The Islanders will miss him on the ice, but the rest of the NHL might not miss him much. They won't have to keep their head on a swivel for his hits anymore.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle