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New York Islanders 2016-2017 Player Grades: Nick Leddy

By Jennifer Lapka
Apr 9, 2017; Brooklyn, NY, USA; New York Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield (42) and defenseman Nick Leddy (2) react after the win against Ottawa Senators at Barclays Center. Islanders win 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Nicole Sweet-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 9, 2017; Brooklyn, NY, USA; New York Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield (42) and defenseman Nick Leddy (2) react after the win against Ottawa Senators at Barclays Center. Islanders win 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Nicole Sweet-USA TODAY Sports /
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The New York Islanders defense struggled throughout the season, but Nick Leddy still set a career high in goals, assists, and points.

The New York Islanders held onto Jack Capuano way too long this season and no one player aside from Ryan Strome felt the sting of it more than Nick Leddy.

Sure, Leddy got ice time and power play minutes under Capuano. He had responsibility heaped upon him as a first pair defenseman. He also played the majority of the first half of the season miserably with Travis Hamonic.

New York Islanders

The two defensemen were a seeming poison to each other. While plus/minus has become an apparent obsolete statistic, it still tells a story. The story it tells for Leddy is that he struggled in his own end. When Hamonic went down with an injury, Leddy hovered around -12. At no point with Hamonic was his season +/- on the positive side.

Hamonic’s injury saw Leddy initially paired with Adam Pelech. While the pair was relatively solid, Leddy eventually found himself back with Johnny Boychuk. Paired with Pelech and Boychuk, Leddy was a +9.

Leddy put together his best offensive season with 11 goals and 35 assists. The majority of his points came in the second half of the season – when paired with someone other than Hamonic.

Amongst Islanders defenseman, Leddy found himself in the middle of the advanced stats pack and he gave the puck away almost twice the amount of time he took it away.

The Islanders defense as a whole struggled throughout the season. The goaltending controversy didn’t help. Whether the defensive woes are an indictment of the core itself or any one player remains to be seen.

Numbers aside, Leddy had several games where he looked like he was drowning. When he consistently played away from Hamonic, he looked more comfortable and confident to do the things that make him so potentially great.

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The Islanders need to find that or Leddy has to find what it takes to get to the next level. Either way, he scores a B+ for this season.

Final Grade: B+

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