Cal Clutterbuck has been a warrior for the New York Islanders in his nine seasons with the team. Since joining the Islanders via trade on July 1, 2013, Clutterbuck has been a force to be reckoned with, as his physical play puts him at the top the hits’ list season after season. However, Clutterbuck’s contract is coming to an end and he will be and unrestricted free-agent heading into the offseason. As much as Clutterbuck is a fan favorite, the Islanders should not re-sign him.

Clutterbuck has been a reliable fourth-liner on for the Islanders for the past few seasons. However, if the Islanders decide to re-sign Clutterbuck to new contract, they will be at risk of locking up their entire fourth line, which includes Casey Cizikas and Matt Martin, to multi-year deals. Each one of them will be over the age of 35 when their deals end. For a team that already has the oldest average age in the NHL, they will continue to struggle adapting to the modern-day NHL. The Islanders need to get younger and that starts with getting rid of some of the veterans.

The Islanders struggle offensively. And Clutterbuck does not help the team in the offensive zone. According to JFreshHockey and analytics from TopDownHockey, Clutterbuck is in the 7th percentile when it comes to even strength offensive efficiency. That is a 18 percent drop from last year. That is simply not good enough. Although he is in the 86th percentile for even strength defensive efficiency, the Islanders can still find a replacement for Clutterbuck that will give them the same production defensively and give them more offensively.

As for replacing Clutterbuck, the Islanders can look inward. The organization has options like Richard Panik, Austin Czarnik and Kieffer Bellows in their system to replace Clutterbuck. Specifically, a younger, more-skilled player like Bellows could be a great choice to replace an aging forward. While in his own zone, Bellows is nothing spectacular, but he provides a lot more offense than Clutterbuck. As for the nastiness that Clutterbuck provides, Bellows is becoming a pest to play against. And if that doesn’t work out, the Islanders have Panik signed for another year, who in his short stint with the Islanders this season raised a lot of eyebrows. His physical play and hard forechecking would make him a good replacement on the fourth line.

This has nothing to do with Clutterbuck as a player or person. As a matter of fact, he has been one of the better players for the Islanders this season. But the Islanders cannot put themselves in a position where they have three fourth-liners signed long-term into their late 30s. For a league that every year is getting faster and faster, the Islanders would be putting themselves at a severe disadvantage. Therefore, unless Clutterbuck is re-signed for a one-year deal at a low cost, there is no reason for the Islanders to bring him back.

Jack Kobil

Hi, my name is Jack Kobil. I am currently attending Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington DC. I am a huge Islanders fan and I love to share my passion for this team.