New York Islanders Andrew Ladd Missing Camp Isn’t Terrible

New York Islanders forward Andrew Ladd has missed a few days of preseason so far due to muscle tightness. It won’t affect a roster spot for him, but he could use all that time to get used to Barry Trotz’s system.

The 2018 preseason has begun for most of the New York Islanders. Except for Andrew Ladd. Ladd has missed a few days of Isles training camp due to muscle tightness. Something the team doesn’t feel is a long-term concern for Ladd.

In the offseason Ladd let everyone know that he was going to have a better year in 2018-19. Speaking with NHL.com’s Brian Compton he said that “he’s capable of more.”

It feels like every year Andrew Ladd is telling us that he can do better. This year, year number three of that $38.5 million seven-year contract, we hope Ladd can. But we’ll have to wait.

It’s Good to Address It Now

Remember Ladd’s first season with the New York Islanders? How it took him seemingly forever to get a goal or even produce anything at all? It was revealed after Jack Capuano was fired, that Ladd might have been carrying a back injury the entire time.

After resting for a bit, Andrew Ladd responded big time. From October 13th, 2016 to January 14th, 2017, Ladd scored eight goals and 12 points in 41 games. In the following 38 games, Ladd scored 15 goals and 19 points. Rest did him some good.

It’s better to sit out now rather than later. We saw what happens when Ladd is playing through injury. He doesn’t perform. Which makes sense, he’s injured after all.

If the Islanders are to surprise the NHL and have any success this season they’ll need every single one of their players performing, including Andrew Ladd.

It isn’t ideal for any New York Islanders player to be missing training camp, Barry Trotz and Lou Lamoriello need to assess every player and where they fit in the organization. But when it comes to Ladd they’re rather stuck.

It’s not like they can get rid of Ladd if he didn’t perform. Thanks to the contract given to him by previous GM Garth Snow, Ladd still has two years of a full no-trade clause before three years of a 15-team modified no-trade clause. All while making $5.5 million on the cap each year.

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Having Andrew Ladd miss out on training camp isn’t ideal, but the rest should obviously do him some good. Having a 100 percent healthy Ladd to start the season can only be a good thing. And it undoubtedly puts him in the best possible position to show that “he’s capable of more”.