Matt Martin has ‘something to prove’ to Islanders with tryout

The way Matt Martin’s free agency went, he said, wasn’t a surprise.

And, he said, being in the Islanders dressing room with the same group he’s played with for years felt mostly the same.

But the circumstances around Martin’s training camp, where he is fighting to make the Islanders off a professional tryout contract, are as different as it gets for someone who hasn’t needed to fight for a roster spot in nearly 15 years.

“Certainly a different mindset, cause you have something to prove from a different perspective than you had before when you had a contract,” Martin said. “I feel comfortable in this room. I’m good friends with a lot of these guys for a long time.”

Martin skated Thursday on a line with two-way signing Fredrik Karlstrom and Hudson Fasching, one of the players who could be budged aside if he ultimately does make the roster.

Though Martin dealt with some injuries last year — missing time in November and December, as well as the last two games of the postseason — he is, in essence, a known commodity.

At 35, he is not adding anything new to a game that fit like a glove on the Islanders fourth line for years.

It’s just a question of whether he can still do it well enough to justify a roster spot.

“On and off the ice, he can do a lot,” Ryan Pulock said. “He has stuck up for his teammates his whole career, and you know that’s not gonna change. And he plays a simple game out there. You know what you’re gonna get every night. … I think in this locker room, every single guy in here has so much respect for him that as he leads, we follow.”

For how much longer, though, is unknown.

Ilya Sorokin (back) was not on the ice Thursday.

Islanders coach Patrick Roy did not have an update on his timetable for return.

Goaltender Tristan Lennox and forwards Daylan Kuefler and Jesse Nurmi were also absent from Day 1 of camp.

Scott Mayfield said his ankle felt “really good” after undergoing surgery in March.

Mayfield’s summer was mainly rehab focused, but he got on the ice around halfway through the offseason and said things had gotten much better over the past four to six weeks.

Bo Horvat centered Anthony Duclair and Mat Barzal in Roy’s first crack at creating forward lines. Simon Holmstrom was with Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, while Anders Lee, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and Pierre Engvall stayed put after ending the season together.

Casey Cizikas skated between Maxim Tsyplakov and Julien Gauthier.

Kyle MacLean centered Oliver Wahlstrom and two-way signing Liam Foudy.