Islanders' Scott Mayfield is happy to finally be healthy again

Scott Mayfield understands being hurt. The Islanders defenseman played on an injured left ankle essentially all of last season before being shut down after 41 games and requiring offseason surgery.

So Mayfield expressed relief that Rangers center Filip Chytil was able to return to the Islanders’ 6-4 preseason loss at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night after a scary leg-to-leg collision. And he can’t be happy Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury suffered fighting Mayfield immediately following the hit on Chytil.

“Especially preseason,” Mayfield told Newsday. “It was definitely hard hit [on Chytil] but hockey’s a physical game.”

Mostly, though, Mayfield is happy with how good his body is feeling after dressing in the Islanders’ first two preseason games. He could potentially play a third straight paired with Mike Reilly when the Islanders face the Flyers on Thursday night in Philadelphia.

Mayfield, entering the second season of a seven-year, $24 million deal, logged 17:05 Tuesday and was on the ice for both of the Rangers’ six-on-five goals in their five-goal blitz over the final 6:10.

He was paired with Dennis Cholowski both against the Rangers and Sunday night’s 4-2 road win over the Devils in the Islanders’ preseason opener when he was on the ice for 23:04.

“It feels good,” Mayfield said. “Obviously I haven’t played for a long time. It’s definitely different on the body but I love the work that I put in this summer. I feel good physically.

“We gave it a couple of weeks [after the season] and tried to let it heal. It didn’t look too good on pictures so we did the surgery. I started skating at the end of June. It took a little bit of time to try and get back into it, the range of motion. I’d say the end of July I was pretty much full go. It was a long summer of rehab.”

Mayfield and Reilly, who skated on Tuesday and participated in practice on Wednesday at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow after sitting out Monday’s session because he wasn’t feeling well, are expected to be the Islanders’ third pair after Alexander Romanov and Noah Dobson and Adam Pelech with Ryan Pulock.

Between injuries to Mayfield, Pelech and Pulock last season, the Islanders had to cobble together a defense corps, claiming Reilly off waivers from the Panthers and trading for Robert Bortuzzo, who also promptly went out with a long-term injury and is now with Utah.

The 6-5, 213-pound Mayfield plays a simple, physical game and will be relied on as a key penalty killer. That is, when he’s not taking penalties. He totaled 35 penalty minutes in 41 games last season and was whistled for tripping Vincent Trocheck just 1:56 into Tuesday’s match.

“He’s very good on the PK,” coach Patrick Roy said. “Very solid. He can play against top lines. And he’s got more offense than anybody could think of. I’m excited to see him. I think he needs these exhibition games to get going.”

Mayfield set career highs in 2022-23 with six goals and 18 assists when he played all 82 games.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.