DETROIT — Cal Clutterbuck isn’t thinking about the decision that faces him at the end of this season.
At least not yet.
But at 36 years old and with his contract expiring, the veteran of 1,040 NHL games is well aware that this could be his last few months chasing the playoffs before calling it quits. ing.
“I feel like these things are going to take care of themselves. Honestly, whatever happens in the end, I feel like I’ve done enough,” Clutterbuck said Wednesday, when the Islanders were at Little. – told the Post after practicing at Caesars Arena. “If it ended today, I feel like I gave it everything I had, aside from winning the Stanley Cup. I don’t have any regrets or regrets no matter what. That’s why for me I’m not worried.
“If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Best situation – if you sit back and do nothing and let things happen the way they should happen, things will work out. Let’s force things. Please don’t do that.”
Clutterbuck still has the passion and intensity needed to play in the NHL – just talk to him after a loss to prove that – and has been competent this season as well. A group of players who have reprized their roles on the fourth line and remain a key part of the leadership.
“He’s a great teammate,” coach Patrick Roy said. “I love his physicality. I love his intensity. He’s very strong and a very reliable player defensively, but [also] aggressively. ”
But the Islanders will have a chance to break away from their identity line this offseason, when Clutterbuck and 34-year-old Matt Martin become unrestricted free agents and the retirement question is answered.
For now, Clutterbuck’s focus is on the Islanders doing everything they can to stay in playoff contention, with a key game coming up Thursday against the wild-card leader Red Wings.
The Isles are five points behind the Flyers in the Metropolitan Division with one game in hand, and seven points behind second-place wild card Tampa Bay with two games in hand.
“I think as you get older, there’s more external pressure,” Clutterbuck says. “Obviously, there are fewer opportunities. I think the difference is you look at it and think, ‘I don’t know how many other opportunities there are.’ But you can’t enjoy it more or less. But in the back of my mind, I know he doesn’t have even 10 cracks left. ”
Early in his career with the Minnesota Wild, Clutterbuck had little involvement in the playoff race and did not appear in the postseason until his fifth full season in the league during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season.
A year later, he was traded to the Islanders and has been a frequent addition to the team ever since.
The team struggled after the Christmas break and dropped significantly in the standings, so their chances of playing this season are not particularly high. But the Islanders are not officially out of the woods, nor are they acting as if the chase is over.
“I think once you’re in the playoffs once, your appreciation for the playoff race becomes real,” Clutterbuck said. “As you’ve probably noticed, we seem to have the playoff bug. I think the same is true the other way around. Even if you spend the early years of your career not making the playoffs, you get used to it to some degree.” That’s why we play. You always want to join in.
“And the playoff race makes sense, because as much as you want to say this is professional hockey, it’s the NHL, 82 games is a long year. It’s so much fun to have tangible metrics to watch yourself climb and fall and the emotions that follow.”
