New York Islanders Getting Production From Ladd and Chimera

After an initial slow start, the New York Islanders are getting their money’s worth with their two biggest free agent acquisitions of this past offseason.

Andrew Ladd and Jason Chimera were both struggling mightily out of the gate. The same could be said about the New York Islanders actually. When the Isles switched head coaches Ladd and Chimera began to take off like the rest of the team.

For this exercise, we’ll use the day Jack Capuano was fired as the cutoff point. Under Cappy Ladd had eight goals in 41 games. He was significantly underperforming. Fans were extremely disappointed with his performance and rightfully so.

The Isles gave him big money to be the marquee addition to this team and he wasn’t producing up to that level. The contract seemed like a nightmare at the time.

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Now, it doesn’t seem like as bad of a deal. In 13 games played under Doug Weight he has the eight goals, the same amount he did through the first 41 games. Ladd’s a streaky player but at least he’s hitting his stride at the right time down the stretch.

Ladd’s on pace for a 23 goal season which is pretty solid, considering it took 13 games for him to get his first goal in blue and orange. Through the first 41 games, he was on pace for just 16 goals. He’s steadily improved and has become someone who the Isles can depend on.

Jason Chimera was brought in here for depth on the fourth line. Although he was coming off a 20 goal, 40 point season with Washington so expectations were higher for him than he was initially producing.

Through 42 games under Capuano, he had eight goals. Which would have put him on pace for 16 goals for the season. In 16 games since the switch, he’s got seven goals and is now on pace for 21 goals.

At 37 years old and a $2.25 million cap hit for this year the Islanders are lucking out with his production. This is a slam dunk upgrade over Matt Martin who has just four goals and seven points this year. That’s not meant as a knock on Matty either, he was a great Islander on and off the ice, but the fact of the matter is Chimera is a sure fire upgrade.

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As for the Ladd to Kyle Okposo comparison, Okposo is on pace for 25 goals and will definitely have more points than Ladd. That said, at least Ladd is producing now. We can compare and contrast players all day long but at the end of the day, Ladd and Chimera are both helping the Islanders win games which is all that matters.