New York Islanders Name Anders Lee Captain

After losing their Captain, John Tavares in free agency, the New York Islanders have named Anders Lee their Captain for the 2018-2019 season.

Many expected the New York Islanders to be captain-less for the first time since 1996-1997. That’s what happened with Lou Lamoriello during his time in Toronto so it was assumed the same thing would happen again.

Today, the Islanders announced that Anders Lee will handle that role for the Islanders going forward and he’ll be the 15th Captain in the team’s history.

Anders Lee has been with the New York Islanders since he was drafted in the sixth round of the 2009 NHL Draft. He made his debut in the 2012-2013 season scoring a goal in his first game.

Lee’s first full year in the league was signs of things to come. He finished his rookie season, at age 24, in 2014-2015 with 25 goals. That would end up being signs of things to come.

After a down 2015-2016, with 15 goals, Lee exploded in 2016-2017. Lee eclipsed the 30 goal mark for the first time in his career with 34 goals. He burst onto the scene as one of the premier goal scorers.

There were questions if Lee would be able to replicate his season this past year. He did, he actually improved it. He finished the year with 40 goals, and over the last two seasons, he’s fifth in the league in goals.

Besides being a big-time goal scorer on the ice, he’s also become a leader both on and off the ice. Lee is very charitable with his Anders Lee Kancer Jam tournament that he does every year. He’s a logical choice for his efforts on and off the ice and I’m proud to see him wear the “C” for this franchise.

For the last six years Lee’s been a great Islander on and off the ice, and he’s more than deserving for this honor.

Also, this infers that Anders will extend here. Why else would they make him a Captain if he wasn’t committed to the team for the long hall? Expect to hear of an extension coming soon.