New York Islanders: Andrew Ladd, in every way, is a problem

The New York Islanders may bring some hope to fans in either aspect of the word, but they need to find a new person to blame, and that may now be Andrew Ladd.

As the 2018-19 NHL Season arrives, the New York Islanders have a new philosophy. Prove people wrong.

With the departure of John Tavares and the arrival of Lou Lamoriello, Barry Trotz, Robin Lehner, and many other players, both the front office and the locker room will have a different feel this season.

In previous years, the bench boss, most recently Doug Weight, or the General Manager, obviously being Garth Snow, have been the immediate place of blame for the Islanders.

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But now, with Trotz as head coach and Lou managing the front office, that is no longer the case.

The Islanders fans need to find a new person to blame, and it seems to be Andrew Ladd.

Ladd, 32, is entering the third season of his seven-year, $38.5 million contract that he signed during the 2016 offseason, and he has not been the Ladd of old. That’s for sure.

After putting up 23 goals and 31 points in 78 games his first season with the Isles, he scored 12 and had 29 points in 72 games last season.

This season is already projected to be his worst.

After initially being signed to play with Tavares, he slid to the third line for the past three seasons with Brock Nelson as his center the majority of the time.

Now, he will be playing with Jan Kovar or Valtteri Filppula as his center since Nelson is being slotted as the second line center with Anders Lee and Jordan Eberle.

Well, Ladd will only be playing with them when he is healthy.

This preseason, Ladd has been skating by himself in the mornings aside from the full team skate as he has been nursing what has been referred to as symptoms from last year’s back injury.

Lou continues to tell the media that he is day-to-day and that Ladd will not be placed on the Injured Reserve come the start of the season.

Between the immovable contract with a No-Trade Clause attached and his continued injury problems, Andrew Ladd, who is already a problem in the perspective of the fan base, has a chance to become the next target for Islanders’ fans blame game.