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Islanders' Capuano concerned about offense lost in free agency

Brad Penner / USA TODAY Sports

The New York Islanders could be paying the price for allowing key free agents to sign elsewhere in the summer.

That's what head coach Jack Capuano alluded to following Thursday's 3-2 loss to Philadelphia, pointing out his club scored a power-play goal with the likes of Cal Clutterbuck and Casey Cizikas on the ice, with the other marker coming off the stick of Dennis Seidenberg.

"We took 134 points out of our lineup (in free agency) and we need to find a way to get some offense," Capuano said, per Arthur Staple of Newsday. "That’s my concern."

Those points came from primarily from Kyle Okposo (now with Buffalo) and Frans Nielsen (Detroit), who ranked second and third in team scoring with 64 and 52 points, respectively.

Andrew Ladd was signed with a view to filling that hole, but he's contributed a lone assist in 11 games.

Ladd is far from the only player failing to pick up the slack, and Capuano wasn't pleased with the effort brought forth in the loss to the Flyers.

"It was concerning the way a few guys came out, I won’t lie to you," he said. "We have some decisions to make going forward."

Perhaps general manager Garth Snow will have some decisions of his own to make sooner than later.

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