Former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Matt Martin is calling it a career.

The 36-year-old announced the news on Tuesday afternoon, following his 15th season in the NHL. Martin, however, isn't completely leaving hockey; he'll remain with the New York Islanders as a special assistant to general manager and executive vice president Mathieu Darche.

After being selected in the fifth round (148th overall) of the 2008 NHL Draft by the New York Islanders, Martin began his professional career with the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers in 2009. He made his NHL debut on Feb. 9, 2010, registering two assists in a 4-3 shootout win over the Nashville Predators.

Martin would play six more seasons with the Islanders before signing a four-year, $10 million contract with the Maple Leafs. The forward joined Toronto at a pivotal time, as Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander were each entering their first full NHL season.

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The Windsor, Ontario, native was seen as a mentor, helping guide the young players through a likely whirlwind of a year while offering protection. Martin scored five goals, four assists, and racked up 123 penalty minutes in his first season with Toronto.

He scored two assists in six games against the Washington Capitals in the first round of the playoffs that same year. His two tallies came in Game 2, one of which was the secondary assist on former Maple Leaf Kasperi Kapanen's double-overtime goal to tie the series at one.

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The Maple Leafs ended up falling to the Capitals in six games.

Martin would play one more season with Toronto, scoring three goals and nine assists in 50 games. After a career-low 7:59 of average ice time throughout that season, the Maple Leafs traded Martin back to the Island on July 3, 2018, in exchange for Eamon McAdam.

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The enforcer helped the Islanders get to the second round of the playoffs in his first year back with the Islanders. His NHL career concludes after 987 NHL games, where he put up 81 goals, 97 assists, and 1168 penalty minutes.

(Top photo: Tom Szczerbowski / Imagn Images)

With the 2025 NHL Draft just a few days away, the New York Rangers’ trade talks involving K’Andre Miller are continuing to heat up. 

According to Vince Mercogliano of USA Today, the Rangers are seeking their “final-and-best offers this week” for Miller.

According to NHL insider Frank Seravalli, there have been 12-15 teams in the mix on Miller in recent weeks, but the teams with the most interest in the young defenseman remain unidentified. 

Larry Brooks of The New York Post went as far as to say that it seems inevitable that Miller will be moved this offseason.

The 25-year-old defenseman is set to become a restricted free agent on July 1 and after showing signs of regression during the 2024-25 season, the Rangers are reportedly hesitant to give Miller a long-term contract extension. 

“They don't want to give him term, they've indicated if they sign him to an extension it's not going to be a long-term extension and that's why his name is out there,” Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said.

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The Blueshirts have also been linked to free-agent defensemen Vladislav Gavrikov and Ivan Provorov, two potential replacements for Miller. 

This past season, Miller recorded seven goals, 20 assists, and 27 points in 74 games while averaging 21:57 minutes.

On Tuesday, longtime New York Islanders forward Matt Martin announced his retirement from the National Hockey League. 

He'll serve as a special assistant to general manager Mathieu Darche. 

Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) on X#Isles announce that Matt Martin has retired. He’ll serve as a special assistant to GM Mathieu Darche. Stick taps on a great career and kudos to Isles for keeping him around.

Martin, who the Islanders drafted by the Islanders in the fifth round of the 2009 NHL Draft, spent 14 of his 16 NHL seasons on Long Island. He played 132 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2016-18 before being re-acquired ahead of the 20218-19 season. 

The 36-year-old, who played 855 games with the Islanders, finishes his career just 13 games shy of reaching the 1,000-game milestone. In 987 career games, Martin has recorded 3,931 hits with 178 points (81 goals, 97 assists). 

Martin's passion for the game and leadership on and off the ice have meant the world to his teammates and the fan base. It's part of why he was the Islanders' 2025-26 nominee for the King Clancy.

He founded the Matt Martin Foundation to maintain his connection with the Long Island community. He hosts an annual hockey camp and poker tournament during the offseason.

The tournament raised money of over $140,000 for service animals, gifting a dog to an FDNY captain. 

The recipient of the award will receive a $25,000 donation to a charity of his choice. Captain Anders Lee became the third Islander to receive the honor last season, joining Bryan Trottier and Doug Weight in 1989 and 2011, respectively.

Him staying around is only a positive for the organization as he begins his career on the management side of things.

Stay updated with the most interesting Islanders stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News to never miss a story.

Photo credit: John Jones-Imagn Images

The Hockey Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2025 on Tuesday which included eight selections: two builders (Jackie Parker and Daniele Sauvageau) and six players (Duncan Keith, Zdeno Chara, Joe Thornton, Alexander Mogilny, Jennifer Botterill and Brianna Decker).

While all were deserving of the nod, there was, yet again, one notable exclusion: Rod Brind'Amour.

The 2006 Stanley Cup Champion and Carolina Hurricanes legend has been eligible for selection into the Hockey Hall of Fame for 12 years now, but it seems like he continues to be overlooked.

The process works as follows: Each member of the committee is permitted to select only one player for nomination.

Once nominated, a player must then receive at least 75% of the vote from the 18-person committee, with each member permitted to vote for up to four male players each.  

Players are supposed to be adjudicated on "playing ability, sense of fair play, character and contributions to his or her team or teams and to the game of hockey in general."

So it's clear that Brind'Amour meets and exceeds all of those criteria, but yet he continues to be disregarded.

The centerman is one of the best examples of longevity in the game, having played 1,484 games, the 28th most in league history (he was in the top-20 when he retired).

It wasn't like he was dragging out his career toward the end either, as he was playing over 18 minutes a night every year until his 20th season and he averaged over 21 minutes a game for his career.

Brind'Amour was also one of the early pioneers of the fitness movement in the NHL, earning the moniker "Rod the Bod."

He was also a highly successful two-way player. While known for his defensive ability, he still collected 452 goals and 1,184 points

In addition, the centerman was also one of the game's best ever faceoff men.

While the NHL didn't start tracking faceoff wins until 2005, Brind'Amour is credited with a 59.32% win rate in the dots for his age 35-39 seasons, well past his prime.

Brind'Amour broke into the league as a teenager with the St. Louis Blues in 1989, after a standout freshman season with Michigan State that saw him capture CCHA Rookie of the Year honors.

Immediately, he was impact player, with 26 goals and 61 points in that first season. 

He made the NHL's All-Rookie Team that year and played one more season with the Blues before he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Brind'Amour was again a dominant force on the ice throughout his time in Philly, with multiple 70+ point seasons and Selke votes (he was inducted into the Flyers' Hall of Honor in 2015),  but it wasn't until his eventual trade to the Hurricanes where he really cemented his legacy.

The veteran center went on to become team captain and led the franchise to its one and only Stanley Cup in 2006 (he also should have won the Conn Smythe that year, but Cam Ward, an Edmonton-born netminder, ended up with that honor instead). He also won back-to-back Selke trophies.

Honestly, there is also no singular player more impactful and more meaningful to the Carolina franchise and fanbase than Rod Brind'Amour.

Rod Brind'Amour Awarded North Carolina's Highest Civilian HonorGovernor Roy Cooper presented Brind'Amour with membership following his team's 4-1 win over Columbus on Sunday.

So in terms of impact to the game and his teams, Brind'Amour is right there at the top. He's also a class act, great person and represents the game so well.

Furthermore, there are plenty of players already in with either similar or worse resumes than Brind'Amour.

So why isn't he in the Hall of Fame yet? Your guess is as good as mine.

But it is notable that the entire selection process is shrouded in secrecy. None of the selection committee's votes are ever made public and no one except for the 18-person committee is privy to those conversations.

Perhaps a little transparency could go a long way.

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Former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Joe Thornton is a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

The 45-year-old joins a list of 2025 Hockey Hall of Fame inductees, which include Jennifer Botterill, Zdeno Chara, Brianna Decker, Duncan Keith, and former Maple Leaf Alexander Mogilny. Two builders will be inducted: Jack Parker and Danielle Sauvageau.

"Holy doodle, I can’t believe that I am receiving this honor," Joe Thornton said via San Jose Sharks beat reporter Curtis Pashelka. "There are so many people I need to thank because I certainly couldn’t have done this alone."

According to Pashelka, Thornton didn't pick up the phone on the first ring. He's travelling back home to St. Thomas, Ontario, after spending a few days with Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews in his home of Arizona.

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Although Thornton did not win anything during his time with the Maple Leafs, his tenure in Toronto will certainly be recalled by many.

Signing a one-year deal, $700,000 contract ahead of the NHL’s bubble season, Thornton was revered by his teammates before even arriving in the city. Due to Canada’s COVID-19 restrictions, he, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and former Maple Leafs Rasmus Sandin and Mac Hollowell quarantined together for two weeks before joining the team for training camp.

"Just being around this youthful energy just gets me excited," Thornton said during Toronto’s training camp in January 2021. "I feel like I’m young again, and it’s a good feeling to be in."

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After finally getting anchored in Toronto, the veteran playmaker started the year skating beside Matthews and Mitch Marner on the team’s top line. As the season continued, though, his ice time shrank, beginning the year with 17:10 in his debut, to 13:18 in his final regular-season game.

Thornton scored five goals and 15 assists in his lone season with the Maple Leafs. He followed that up with one goal in seven games against the Montreal Canadiens in the first round, before Toronto was eliminated.

There’ll be moments during Thornton’s tenure to remember, like his jousting match with Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers. Thornton was mic’d up during that moment by Amazon, which was filming the ‘All or Nothing’ docu-series the entire season.

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You cannot forget the moment when Matthews and Marner congratulated former Maple Leaf Patrick Marleau on reaching the most games played by an NHLer milestone. Thornton, partially clothed with a stick in hand, stood behind Matthews and Marner and wished his former San Jose Sharks teammate well.

Aside from the moments that made Thornton one of hockey’s true enigmas, he’s one of the sport’s most decorated players. One World Junior gold medal, two World Cup golds, one Olympic gold, an Art Ross Trophy, a Hart Trophy, and countless other honors.

The only trophy he didn’t capture: The Stanley Cup.

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Thornton formally retired in late October 2023. His career finished with 430 goals and 1,109 assists in 1,714 games, split between the Boston Bruins, Sharks, Maple Leafs, and Florida Panthers. The Sharks retired Thornton’s jersey in November, culminating the forward’s legacy in San Jose and beyond.

"I appreciate you guys so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you. What a tremendous honor. Incredible," Thornton told Lanny McDonald and Ron Francis, Chair of the selection committee, after receiving the phone call. "Oh my god, I don't know what to say. This is incredible."

(Top photo: Sergei Belski / Imagn Images)